Something Unpredictable
by ChloeSC
Summary: A simple kiss changes it all....will Lily finally listen to her heart? read and review
1. This Kiss

_**Author's Note: I was inspired to start a new story, but that doesn't mean that Dueling Hearts will stop. I just had a new idea and wanted to test it out. Check it out and see what you think. Please review. Hope you enjoy it because I had a ton of fun writing it. I will update my other story in a few days. Thanks everyone.**_

17 year old Lily Evans stared at the wall before her and sucked in her breath. She was completely oblivious to the commotion that surrounded her at King's Cross train station in central London. Instead she was solely focused on the scene before her as four rather unscrupulous young men ran laughing with their trolleys in toe through a wall and disappeared. It always amazed Lily how blind muggles were to the world around them. You'd think a person would notice people running full speed into a wall, Lily thought to herself. However, muggles were too concerned with their own lives to pay attention to the oddities that they were presented with almost daily. Lily was snapped out of her daze when someone shook her on the shoulder.

"Earth to Lily, you better get a move on. It wouldn't look good for the head girl to miss the train on the first day of school," a breathy voice said that Lily automatically recognized as belonging to her best friend Cara Stinson.

Lily shut her eyes and took off at a sprint towards the wall that would serve as a portal to reach platform 9 ¾. This was where she would catch the Hogwarts Express, the train that would deliver Lily to the place she had called home for the past 6 years; Hogwarts School for Witch Craft and Wizardry. And that was exactly what Lily Marie Evans was; a witch. It had come as quite a shock to her family when their youngest daughter was accepted to Hogwarts as they were muggles themselves, but Lily had always known on some level that she had a special talent. Plus it explained how she had managed to turn her sister Petunia's hair green without even touching a bottle of dye. Lily had gotten on the train to Hogwarts six years ago and hadn't looked back since.

Suddenly Lily found herself in the midst of chaos as everyone was running about trying to make sure their luggage was all safely stowed away before the train departed. Families said their goodbyes and students greeted each other in preparation for the year ahead.

"Come on Lils, let's go find Kelly and get a compartment," Cara said and Lily just followed diligently.

The badge that she was wearing that marked her as head girl began to weigh her down. She was responsible for everyone on the train and it was her job to protect them. She just hoped she had the courage to do so if it became necessary. She exhaled for the first time since arriving at King's Cross and prepared herself for her final year at Hogwarts.

"Cara, Lily, in here I found an empty compartment," a voice shouted that belonged to Kelly Kidwell, Lily's other best friend.

The three girls hugged as they hadn't seen each other all summer and then settled in for the long train ride ahead. They had been best friends since their first year at Hogwarts although they were completely different from one another.

Cara was arguably the most talented witch at Hogwarts, but had a penchant for trouble making and had a low tolerance for Slytherins. She was sassy and flirtatious, but much to the dismay of the male population at Hogwarts, never dated. She was gorgeous with long chestnut hair and sea colored eyes that accentuated her olive skin.

Kelly was the most easy-going member of the group and tended to look for the best in people. She rarely spoke ill of anyone and when she did, it was mostly because the person deserved it. She was a talented witch, but unlike Cara, didn't practice her skills on Slytherins, or boys that asked her out too many times. She had strawberry blonde hair and freckles prickled her nose. Her piercing amber eyes made her look trustworthy and loyal; both of which she was.

Lily on the other hand, had a temper that was as fiery as her red hair. She was passionate and quick witted, not to mention exceptionally gifted with magic. She was at the top of her class, although she was more modest about her accomplishments than Cara. She stood up for herself when the occasion called for it and was very prideful. Yet she was also compassionate and hated it when someone was treated unfairly. She was quite popular among the males at Hogwarts, but managed to hold most of them at bay.

"Tell me all about quidditch training camp. Are you going to be the newest seeker for Puddlemere United?" Lily asked Cara enthusiastically.

Cara was a top notch quidditch player and was being actively recruited by many professional quidditch teams. She had spent her summer in Northern England training with the best players in her generation.

"I like to keep my options open. I still haven't crossed out the idea of becoming a rich trophy wife," Cara said with a sarcastic grin.

"I've got plenty of money love and I'd be happy to make your dreams come true," a deep voice said.

The girls turned to see the boys that they despised the most; the marauders. They were fellow seventh year Gryffindors and in the opinions of Lily and Cara, devoid of any manners that separated humans from monkeys. They were notorious pranksters and proudly held the record of most detentions served by anyone in the history of Hogwarts. Sirius Black, the one who had initially made the comment to Cara, was incorrigible. Over the past six years he had snogged almost every girl at Hogwarts, save Lily, Cara, and Kelly. He was a trouble-maker and despite his namesake, never serious. However, he was very talented and quite dashing. His black hair and even darker brooding eyes made him extremely mysterious looking and he was quite a heartthrob around school.

"I see you didn't take my advice and take a nose dive off a cliff over the summer Black," Cara said with an annoyed expression on her face.

Cara and Sirius were well known for their constant pestering of each other and exchange of witty and somewhat flirtatious banter. In short, they were always yelling or sending hexes at one another as they were often times the target of each other's prank.

"Ah, but then you'd miss my handsome face and I wouldn't want to upset you," Sirius said as he sat down next to Cara and threw his arm around her shoulders.

Cara just grumbled something about Sirius shagging the giant squid and then pretended to ignore his presence.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but there aren't any other empty compartments and we really can't risk letting Sirius sit with Slytherins," a tall sandy haired boy by the name of Remus Lupin said.

Remus Lupin was the voice of reason in the tight knit group that called themselves the marauders. He was a prefect and very studious. He was always polite and courteous and in Lily's opinion, he seemed much older and wiser than his hooligan friends. Remus was the only marauder that Lily could stand and they were good friends. She appreciated his maturity. But for the first time, Lily noticed that she was not the only one of her friends that took notice of Remus; Kelly was staring at him with a smile on her face. Perhaps this year, Lily thought to herself, Remus and Kelly would stop dancing around each other and finally get together.

Standing next to Remus was a short blonde boy with a very round face that had a pinched expression on it. Peter Pettigrew was an odd ball in the group. He wasn't particularly talented or charismatic. He just seemed to worship the ground his friends walked on. Lily couldn't remember a time when she had heard Peter speak.

"Hello Remus, how was your summer?" Lily asked politely as she made room for him to sit next to her.

"It was good, I spent a lot of time at James' place playing quidditch and that sort of thing," Remus replied as he moved it sit next to Kelly instead.

"Speaking of Potter, where is your giant prat of a friend? It's oddly quiet on this train, should I be concerned he is planning some form of mayhem?" Lily said sarcastically.

James Potter was the fourth and, in Lily's opinion, the most irritating marauder. He had an ego the size of England and unfortunately it was fed by the female population at Hogwarts who thought he was quite charming. Lily, on the other hand, found him uncaring and rude. They fought almost daily and it was usually after James pestered Lily about going out with him, which Lily gave a resounding "NO" to each time. More than anything, Lily was just disappointed in most of his behavior because she knew that he was capable of much more if he just grew up.

"James said he had some business and would catch up with us later. Congratulations on becoming Head Girl by the way, I always knew you were the one for the job," Remus said with smile.

"Yes I must admit I'm a little disappointed not to see the Head Boy badge pinned to your robes. I enjoyed our patrols together. Who is going to protect me from the bogarts in the cupboards this year?" Lily said with mock fear.

Last year they had been on patrol together and found a student being attacked by a bogart. Remus had tried to fight it off by himself as Lily tried to console the poor student. However, he was paralyzed by his own fears and Lily was forced to step in and do battle with the nasty creature. She never let Remus live the incident down.

"I'm sure your new partner will be much braver and more chivalrous than me," Remus replied trying to hide his smile.

"Speaking of being Head Girl, shouldn't you be off with the other goody goodies planning ways to keep us from having fun," Cara quipped after she had ended a particularly heated argument with Sirius about the Irish national team's chances in the Quidditch World Cup.

Lily clasped her hand over her mouth as she realized she had forgotten to go to the front of the train to lead the first prefect meeting. She dashed out of the compartment and sprinted down the train. However, her efforts were thwarted when she ran smack into the person she despised the most, besides James Potter.

"Careful mudblood or next time you might run into someone who isn't as forgiving as I am," Severus Snape said, his voice dripping with disdain.

"Nice to see you too Severus," Lily said as she pulled herself up from the ground.

Snape just turned on his heel and continued on his way without so much as a look back at Lily. You'd think he would be somewhat grateful for all of the times that Lily had stopped the marauders from torturing him, but instead Snape just treated her with more hatred than ever. She tried not to concern herself with the hostile encounter as she reached her final destination; the prefect compartment. Lily opened the door and was immediately taken aback by the scene in front of her.

"Here are your patrolling schedules and try to not get the first years lost on the way to their common rooms. Last year we lost one and it took months to discover his location," James Potter said as he passed out pieces of parchment to each of the prefects.

He was very tall with messy brown hair and hazel eyes. He had a lopsided grin on his face as he concentrated on the task at hand. This was the meeting that Lily had been regretting all summer. So she did what came naturally to her where James Potter was concerned, she hurled an insult at him.

"Funny you should mention that Potter seeing as it was you and your lot that performed the confundus charm on the poor boy," Lily said as she stepped beside him and immediately grabbed the patrolling schedules from his hand.

"Hello Lily," James said as his grin got even wider.

"What are you playing at Potter? Give that head boy badge back to whoever you stole it from and get out of this compartment before I give you a week of detention," Lily said as her voice began to quiver with anger and her face turned a particularly violent shade of red.

"I'm afraid I can't do that seeing as I am the head boy," James said casually as he tried hard not to laugh at how wound up Lily was getting.

Pushing Lily Evans' buttons was a favorite past time of his. He thought she was the most beautiful when she was mad. He loved her passion.

"Dumbledore must be bloody mad to let a delinquent such as you become Head Boy. Your parents must have bribed him, lord knows they have enough money. Or you have him under the imperius curse, or Dumbledore isn't himself, but someone taking poly juice potion to look like Dumbledore……," Lily ranted as she continued her list of conspiracy theories.

"As hard as it is to believe, I am Head Boy," James said, again not taking the bait that Lily was feeding him. "And I have passed out the new passwords and patrolling schedules and we have decided on Tuesday nights for meetings."

With that, James and the other prefects filed out of the compartment and went to sit with their friends. Lily was left alone with her thoughts. She couldn't believe her luck. She was going to have to spend the entire year with the one person who got under her skin and managed to irritate her more than anything in the world. It just wasn't fair, she thought to herself. It was going to be very hard to get over the kiss she had been trying to forget about if she had to spend so much time with James.

It had plagued Lily all summer because James Potter was her sworn enemy. Everything about him bugged her; the way he strutted around, how he constantly messed his hair, his pranking of Slytherins, and his endless knowledge of defense against he dark arts. It was a mistake, Lily thought to herself and it would never happen again. Yet somehow she couldn't help, but replay the event over and over again in her head.

It was the last week of school and Lily, Cara, and Kelly were sitting outside under a tree discussing their summer plans.

"Petunia is getting married this summer so I will probably be dragged around to every bridal shop in this bloody country and then be forced to wear some god awful pink number with bells and whistles attached to it," Lily said somewhat irritably as she thought of the dull summer that lay ahead of her.

Cara and Kelly laughed at the image of Lily dressed up as a gigantic piece of cotton candy. Cara would be spending the summer at a quidditch training camp and Kelly had plans to tour Europe with her family. Both options seemed a lot more appetizing than listening to Petunia screech on and on about her dull wedding, Lily thought.

"Make sure to take pictures so we can laugh at you when you look like a demented little bow peep," Cara said as she popped a chocolate frog into her mouth.

The girls were enjoying the warm spring air and only having one final exam left. They hardly noticed when four boys swooped down upon them like a plague. James grabbed Lily and flung her over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed, but nothing could keep James from heading towards the lake.

"Put her down you git," Cara yelled, but she was soon silenced as Sirius placed a hand over her mouth and then picked her up and carried her towards the forbidden forest.

Lily continued to flail about as she didn't particularly enjoy being forced to do things against her own will. James just laughed hysterically as he headed in a sprint towards the lake's edge.

"Potter, you giant wanker, put me down or I will force you to," Lily yelled, but her words had no effect on James.

They reached the lake and then James let out a loud laugh as he took Lily's small body and threw it into the cold water. Lily felt herself rushing towards the water, but there wasn't anything she could do to stop the collision that was going to happen. She braced herself for the cold and when she hit the water, she held her breath. She sank rapidly and when she was able to stop herself she crawled towards the surface as quickly as possible. She swam towards the shore with even strokes as she had been on the swim team before her time at Hogwarts. When she pulled her body out of the water she found James just laughing at her.

"I know you are going to punish me for this, but I just couldn't help it. The look on your face is priceless," James said with a great deal of mirth.

She walked up to him, but her tiny 5'4 frame paled in comparison to his height of 6'3. Her attempts to be intimidating failed. She stood there with her hands on her hips and her wet hair stuck to her face and neck. Her face turned a particularly brilliant shade of red as she tried to speak, but words eluded her at the moment.

"You are the most irritating person I have ever met," Lily finally said as she attempted to control her temper.

James stepped closer to her and then he smiled.

"You are the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met," he said with a grin as he poked Lily in the chest.

Lily closed the gap between them until she was nose to nose with her so called enemy.

"I could have drowned, you had no right, I could get sick," Lily continued.

"Nah I used a warming spell on you before I threw you in so you can't get cold and I wouldn't let you drown Evans. Then who would I pester all day?" James said non-chalantly.

"Use that lump that is three feet above your ass and think sometimes Potter," Lily said as she stared at James in the eyes.

"I think all the time Evans, I think about you and me snogging," James replied with a smirk on his face.

At this Lily became incensed. She started to blush an even deeper shade of red as her piercing green eyes pulsated with rage.

"Get over yourself Potter. If you and I were the last people on earth, I would gladly kiss a hippogriff instead of you," Lily said.

James just continued to smile and that was the thing that annoyed Lily the most; he could rile her up, but managed to stay calm and cool when they were fighting.

"Are you scared you might enjoy it Evans or are you just that frigid," James said with a smirk.

"You are an imbecile," Lily replied as she moved even closer to James if that was possible.

They were standing toe to toe and she was about to slap him for that last comment.

"You are stubborn," James retorted.

"You are an arrogant toe rag," Lily said.

"You are afraid following your heart," James said with a smile on his face.

He loved pushing Lily's buttons.

"I hate you," Lily said with venom.

"Nah you love me," James replied.

"Then I have a funny way of showing it always yelling at you. You are delusional," Lily countered.

"You are blind," James said.

They stood glaring at each other and not saying anything. James' frame toward over Lily as they stared at each other and the passion and heat between them was palpable. James looked down at Lily as she stared up at him with passion in her vibrant green eyes and then it happened; they kissed. It wasn't one person kissing the other, they both just leaned in and their lips met. It was an electric kiss as it was full of pent up frustration and emotions. James cupped Lily's face in his hands as she ran her hands through his always messy hair. They exchanged sweet salty kisses until neither one could breathe anymore. Lily was the first to pull away.

"What am I doing? I can't do this, we hate each other," Lily said in shock.

She turned on her heal and began to run towards the castle and prayed that James couldn't catch up with her.

"Lily wait…" James yelled after her, but he realized it was no use.

He'd just have to wait for her.

Lily managed to successfully avoid James for the rest of the week and then thankfully school had ended. She hoped that summer would put distance between them and she would forget about what had happened. However, now they were starting their seventh year at Hogwarts and Lily was going to have to spend night and day with James Potter. It definitely wasn't going to be an easy year, she thought to herself. The most important thing was to not lose her head. She and James weren't right for each other and nothing could happen. They fought constantly and had nothing in common, their relationship was a disaster waiting to happen and Lily didn't intend to find out either way.


	2. The Deal

**_Author's Note: I couldn't stay away and plus I'm practicing the art of procrastination. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Please review as it would really make my day. On a side note, I am looking for someone to help me edit my stories so if anyone is interested, email me. I'd really appreciate it and it'd be nice to get another person's perspective on my writing. Well that is it for now. Peace out._**

After everyone was off the train, the four marauders went in search of an empty carriage to ride in for the final leg of their journey. Since James was head boy and he had to wait for everyone to get off of the train, he and his friends were some of the last students in line to get a carriage. When they finally got to the front, there was only one carriage left.

"How'd it go with Evans mate? Looks as though she didn't castrate you so that is a good sign," Sirius said humorously as the climbed in to the large black compartment that always smelled of ragweed and must.

James failed to see the humor in his ongoing battle with Lily Evans. He'd thought that being appointed head boy would make Lily see him in a different light. He wanted to prove that he could be responsible and mature, but he doubted Lily was going to give him that chance. Her accusing him of nicking the badge from someone else wasn't exactly a step in the right direction.

"She practically accused me of cursing Dumbledore to give me the job, so I'd say things are pretty much how we left them last year; her hating my guts," James said rather dejectedly.

The four boys failed to notice when the door to their carriage swung open.

"Who hates your guts Potter because I think I might like to meet that person?" Lily said sarcastically.

James groaned and tried not to flinch at the barb that was just thrown at him.

"Isn't there another carriage you can ride where you can find someone else to be rude to," James said somewhat dejectedly.

Lily was rather taken aback by the sadness in James' voice, but she couldn't help herself. She just didn't know how to speak civilly to James. She also couldn't let on that he had managed to plague her thoughts all summer long. She decided that the best course of action was to put as much distance between them as possible.

"Well there are no other carriages and all of the others have left so you are stuck with us," Lily said as she took a seat next to Peter across from James.

Everyone in the carriage was silent as James and Lily threw glares at each other.

"So Potter when is the first quidditch practice?" Cara said trying to relieve the tension that was almost palpable.

"We have to hold tryouts first seeing as we lost our seeker and one of our beaters. I figure we will have them after the first week of classes and then go from there. I have lots of plans I want to show you. I have some new formations I want to try." James said as his interest was suddenly piqued.

His spirits were always lifted by talk of quidditch.

"Excellent. I have some new moves I learned at training this summer; we are going to be unstoppable this year as long as we can find a decent seeker. I heard Edgar Bones isn't terrible, but we'll have to see," Cara said.

They continued to prattle on about quidditch and soon Sirius and Remus had entered the discussion as they were bashing the other teams, especially the Slytherins.

"Amos Diggory will put a good side together, but they lack the killer instinct," James added as they were making wagers on who would play in the finals.

Lily stared at the night sky and failed to engage in the conversation. She was too busy searching the horizon for the castle that she had called home for the past seven years.

"What you need is a seeker who can pull off the wronski feint because that git Avery from Slytherin is just a follower and if you can fake him out then the game should be much easier, plus you might get lucky and he will plough into the ground. I saw the move done at a match this summer and it works like a charm," Lily said absently as she heard the group discussing possible seekers.

Everyone turned their heads to stare at her. She was never a huge fan of quidditch and it shocked her friends and especially the marauders that she knew what a wronski feint was.

"How do you know about the wronski feint Evans? I never took you for a quidditch fan," James said as he stared at Lily in amazement.

Lily merely smiled at the group.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me Potter," Lily said as she went back to staring out the window.

"Evidently so," James said, quite shocked.

The group arrived at Hogwarts and piled out of the carriage as they split up and went their different ways.

The boys went straight to the dinning hall as they were starving and didn't want to miss any part of the meal. They left Lily, Cara, and Kelly and sprinted towards the entrance.

"Kelly, Remus is looking quite fit this year. I saw you staring at him, are you going to stop being a chicken and finally make a move this year or are Lily and I going to have to lock you two in a broom closet," Cara kidded as the three girls linked arms and began walking to the dinning hall.

Kelly blushed furiously at the thought of Remus. It wasn't a secret that she harbored feelings for him, she just didn't feel like discussing them at the moment.

"I don't think he'd be interested and for the last time we are just friends," Kelly pleaded, but she knew the topic wouldn't be dropped if she didn't quickly change the subject. "Anyway I saw you flirting with Sirius, are you going to be added to his laundry list of girls he has snogged?"

At this suggestion, Cara balked. Sirius Black had no respect for women, and Cara had her dignity. He was arrogant, a pest, and only good for one thing: practicing hexes on.

"Lily will have to snog James before I ever date Sirius, so that is never," Cara joked.

Lily pretended to laugh, but at the mention of kissing James, her stomach flip flopped. She was so conflicted about the kiss that she couldn't bring herself to tell her best friends about the incident by the lake and she felt extremely guilty for that omission

"I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth at the thought of me and Potter so you have nothing to worry about Cara," Lily joked, but she couldn't help feelingbad about lying to her best friends.

They sat down at the far end of the Gryffindor table and prepared themselves for the annual marauder prank that occurred at every beginning of the term feast. At the opposite end of the table, the marauders were trying to distract themselves from the hunger they were all experiencing.

"Kidwell is looking good this year Moony, if you don't ask her out I will," Sirius said as he and James flicked wand sparks at each other.

"Go ahead Padfoot, she'll just say no anyway" Remus said with a smile on his face.

"Alright maybe I will," Sirius said, hoping that the idea of losing Kelly would spur him into action.

"What about you and Cara? You two are looking awfully cozy," James said with a smirk as he sent a red spark straight towards Sirius' forehead.

"She's good for a laugh that's about it. I mean she's more like a mate really. She does have a nice ass, but I'd be too worried she'd hex me when we were snogging," Sirius said nonchalantly.

Their conversation was interrupted when Professor Dumbledore stood up to give his annual beginning of term announcements. However, the marauders couldn't help but notice how tired and fragile he was looking this year. The usual bounce in his step seemed to be missing.

"Welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts. I won't keep you from your meal so just remember to read the list of forbidden items and to stay out of the forest. Tuck in and enjoy," Dumbledore said wearily as he took a seat at the teacher's table.

Lily, Cara, and Kelly stared at each other in disbelief. Usually the headmaster was jovial and long winded in his speeches. They looked up at the head table with concern.

"That was odd. Usually Dumbledore enjoys watching the marauders squirm as he delivers lengthy speeches," Cara said with worry in her voice.

Kelly and Lily nodded their heads in agreement. Everyone was aware of the dark times that had fallen upon the wizarding world, but Hogwarts had always seemed sheltered from the problems that plagued their lives outside of schoool. Dumbledore usually made a point not to worry his students and let them enjoy their youth. The fact that he wasn't hiding his weariness and frustration made the girls worry that much more.

"Has it really gotten that bad?" Lily asked in a whisper.

As a muggleborn she wasn't privy to the inner-workings of the wizarding world. She hoped that Cara and Kelly, both being from wizarding families, would have some answers.

"Why do you think my parents decided to leave England for the summer?" Kelly said rather sadly.

"Most of my family is going into hiding after my uncle and his family were murdered last winter. My parents refuse however, they won't be intimidated," Cara said.

It wasn't hard to see where Cara got her courage from. Her parents were both well respected Aurors who were active in the fight against Voldemort.

Lily looked around the hall and for the first time realized that the students weren't as rowdy as usual, and many seemed to be missing. The tables were looking rather empty.

"After the attacks this summer a lot of families went into hiding, that's why there are so many missing. From my count, Gryffindor is missing at least ten students, although you'll notice Slytherin House seems as full as ever," a voice said.

Startled at the idea that someone was reading her thoughts, Lily turned around to see James standing behind her.

"Can I help you Potter?" Lily said somewhat irked that James had known exactly what she was thinking.

James just rolled his eyes, being too used to the cold attitude that Lily treated him with.

"I just came over to tell you that Dumbledore wants to see us in his office," James replied.

Lily groaned at the idea of having to be alone with James, but reluctantly got up from the table and bid her friends farewell.

"Let's get this over with," Lily said.

They walked to the headmaster's office in silence. They didn't look at each other; instead they just stared at the route in front of them. Lily walked briskly as she didn't want to prolong the awkwardness, forcing James to take long strides to keep up with her. They reached the entrance to Dumbledore's quarters and James took out a piece of paper with some writing on it. He quickly said the password and they walked up the spiral staircase to enter a large room covered with books and odd gadgets. Lily stared at the phoenix that sat perched on a stand in the corner of the office. It seemed to be in the process of molting. They didn't wait long as Dumbledore entered from his private chambers and sat behind his desk.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter thank you for coming. Please take a seat as we have much to discuss," Dumbledore said somberly.

Lily looked for a chair and then realized that James had already pulled one out for her. She quietly took the seat and then waited for the headmaster to start.

"As you can probably guess, we are living in dangerous times," Dumbledore started. "For this reason I have appointed the two of you as heads because I believe you poses the courage to help me protect the students."

For the first time that night, James and Lily looked at each other, but it was out of confusion that they did so.

"I'm sorry Professor, but how can we help? We are only students ourselves," Lily asked first.

Dumbledore gave a weak smile and chuckled to himself, but James spoke first.

"You can count on us Professor to do whatever is necessary. Lily always stands up for the right thing and I'll try my best to stay out of trouble and set a good example," James said forcefully.

Lily looked at James as if he she were meeting him for the first time. She was taken aback by the maturity and integrity in his voice.

"That's right Professor, we will do whatever you ask of us," Lily chimed in, not wanting to be outdone but James' statement of bravado.

Dumbledore nodded his head realizing that he had made the right choice. Lily Evans and James Potter would do whatever was necessary to fight against Lord Voldemort; he just hoped it wouldn't cost them.

"With that I'm afraid I must say goodnight. I am in desperate need of sleep and I suggest you two do the same," Dumbledore said as he rose from his desk and bid his students farewell.

Lily and James left Dumbledore's office the same way they had entered it; in silence. They walked together back to the Gryffindor common room, yet they seemed miles apart, both lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, James broke the silence.

"We need to talk," James said abruptly as he stopped walking.

Lily turned to look at him and her stomach dropped. This was the conversation that she had been dreading. She didn't want to talk about the kiss, she wanted to forget it had ever happened. She felt the urge to flee, but for some reason her feet seemed to be glued in place.

"Can't it wait?" Lily said pleadingly, wanting to prevent the forthcoming conversation for as long as possible.

"No it can't," James said stubbornly and he continued before Lily could interrupt him. "So stop being a pain in the ass and just listen."

Lily glared at him warningly and grunted a reluctant "fine."

"I know you detest my very being, but if we are going to work together then we need to be civil to one another so let's set some ground rules," James said.

Lily looked at him and let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't going to torture her with the kiss or pester her about going out with him.

"I guess that sounds reasonable. And for the record I don't hate you, I'm just constantly disappointed by your immaturity and thoughtlessness," Lily replied with a smile on her face.

"Had to get the last word in edge wise didn't you Evans?" James said with his habitual smirk. "Right well I promise to clean up my act if you promise to loosen up a little bit and only yell at me when I deserve it, not when I just happen to be in your line of sight."

Lily laughed, realizing that James was actually rather funny when he wanted to be.

"Alright I can agree to that, but if you bully anybody the deal is off. No more hexing people, unless they really deserve it, and no more pranking," Lily said stipulating her terms for the truce.

"How about being limited to one prank a week, and realize that deal only involves me, not my friends because I can't speak for them," James said in mock sincerity.

Lily couldn't help, but laugh at the ridiculousness of this conversation and despite herself, she agreed to one harmless prank a week as long as it didn't involve torturing first years and no one could get hurt.

"Deal?" James said as he held out his hand.

"Deal, and I promise to lighten up and not insult you so much, although you make it really easy sometimes," Lily said as she shook James' hand.

"Who knows Evans we could make a pretty good team, with your talent and my dashing good looks we could accomplish a lot," James said as they entered the Gryffindor common room.

Lily shook her head admonishingly, but also giggled at the comment.

"Watch yourself Potter, that was almost an egotistical remark," Lily said as she took in the familiar surroundings of the common room.

"Watch yourself Evans, you almost have a sense of humor," James replied cheekily before dashing up the stairs to his dorm.

Lily sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace and lost herself in thought. Had she actually enjoyed an interaction with James Potter? She shook her head at the idea figuring that James would probably break the deal within a week and everything would be back to the way it used to be.

Later that night, two people met in an empty classroom.

"Good job ignoring me today," the female said as she approached the other person with mischief in her eyes.

"Hey it was your decision not to tell anyone about us," the male said.

They stepped into the light that was shinning through the moonlit window and kissed. It had all started over the summer when they ended up staying at the same hotel in Italy during two separate family vacations. It went from escaping their families together to something more rather quickly. They had always liked each other, but neither one had the guts to make the first move and then there was the added pressure of their friends. But when it was just the two of them, everything seemed just right. That was why their relationship was a secret, they didn't want any interference.

"It's killing me to lieto my best friends," Kelly said as she rested her head on Remus' chest.

"We'll tell them when we are ready," Remus said as he kissed Kelly on the forehead.

"I want you all to myself for a little while longer, plus its kind of exciting sneaking around," Kelly giggled.

Remus just smiled as he pulled her closer to him.

"Oh by the way, Sirius is probably going to ask you out in an attempt to make me jealous. Let him down easy won't you?" Remus said.

"Oh that'll be fun I can't wait," Kelly said with a grin. "Maybe Cara will be able to console him after he is brutally rejected."

Remus just laughed and then they went back to kissing. They only had so much time to spend together so they couldn't waste it.


	3. Patrolling Partners

**_AN: Sorry for the long time in between updates. First I had my birthday, then I had midterms so its been hectic. However, I finally had some time to update so I hope you like. Tell me what you think about this chapter because I'm interested to see what the reaction is. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Oh and you guys rock for all of the wonderful reviews, already I feel the love. So here it is...enjoy_**

Lily sat cross-legged on one of the big red couches that filled the Gryffindor common room. She was staring at her essay on human transfiguration unable to find the appropriate words for describing the complex process of becoming an Animagus.

"There isn't a specific process to follow when transforming, it's more like a desire to do so that makes you successful," a voice said over Lily's shoulder.

Lily turned around to see James standing behind her. She fought off the urge to smile as she saw him run his fingers through his hair. It didn't bug her as much anymore.

"Thanks for the help Potter, but I think I can write my essays myself," Lily said as she let out a yawn.

"Well you better hurry up then Miss Smarty Pants because we have rounds in five minutes," James replied sarcastically as he went to sit in the chair across from Lily.

As Lily hurriedly scribbled a conclusion, James sat there and drummed his fingernails on the table. After becoming sufficiently bored with this, he picked up a quidditch magazine and began flipping through it, making loud noises of excitement as he saw new pieces of equipment he wanted.

"If you can't sit still and not bother me so I can finish this, then go somewhere else because you are extremely distracting," Lily said with frustration.

"Are you distracted by my actions or my good looks Evans?" James asked with a grin.

Lily chucked a pillow at James and he took the hint and went back to reading _Quidditch Today_. When he finished with the magazine, he took the snitch from his pocket and began throwing it up in the air to test his reflexes. Lily watched out of the corner of her eye as James attempted to amuse himself and was disrupted from completing the task at hand; finishing her essay. Finally she gave up and threw her arms up in the air in defeat.

"Since you can't seem to be quiet and insist on bothering me, let's go on patrols," she said as she packed her bag up.

James immediately put the snitch away and jumped up in excitement. He began sprinting towards the portrait hole.

"James I think you are forgetting something," Lily called after him as she looked on in amusement.

James turned around and gave Lily a devilish grin.

"My lovely partner?" James replied cheekily.

Lily shook her head and then handed James his wand.

"You are way too excited about going on patrols. Obviously you don't know how dull they can be," Lily said with a chuckle as she watched James skip about as if he were a kid in a candy store.

As a prefect Lily had been forced to patrol the halls of Hogwarts for the past two years. She didn't particularly enjoy catching people snogging and most other offenses were minor so it made for dull evenings. The only positive part of her duties was spending time with her good friend Remus. He managed to make her laugh and was always good for a story. Something told Lily that if Remus was interesting, James Potter would be fascinating, but she quickly reminded herself to keep her distance. He was still an egotistical big headed idiot who couldn't keep from hitting on her.

"I promise to be as entertaining as possible. You are used to patrolling with Remus and he isn't nearly as hilarious or high spirited as I am," James said as he strutted down the hall while Lily ran after him in an attempt to keep up.

They walked for a while and to Lily's surprise and James' delight, they talked civilly about a number of interesting subjects. James prattled on about his desire to follow in the footsteps of his parents and become an Auror. He was amazed to learn that Lily had her own aspirations about becoming an Auror. They talked about the competitive application process and the years of rigorous training.

"I bet with Voldemort on the loose, they will speed up the process and graduate Aurors more quickly. They need as many wizards on the front lines as possible to fight that nutter," James said casually as they busted into a broom closet and to their surprise found a blonde hufflepuff wrapped around none other then Sirius Black.

Lily laughed hysterically and James just shook her head. Sirius grinned widely as the sixth year hufflepuff turned bright red with embarrassment.

"Oye Sirius, can't you wait to do that when I don't have to be the one to catch you," James said in mock disgust.

However, as Sirius walked out of the closet, James gave him a clap on the shoulder in congratulations. Lily looked at both boys with disapproval.

"Hope you liked the show Lilikins, anytime you want a personal viewing, you let me know," Sirius said cheekily.

"As enticing as that sounds Sirius, why don't you escort this lovely young lady back to her common room and then do us all a favor and go to bed," Lily replied sarcastically.

"Alright I will leave you two lovebirds alone and then perhaps you'll do us all a favor and snog Prongsie over here and end his suffering," Sirius said and with that he ran off down the hall with the hufflepuff in toe.

Lily turned bright red at Sirius' suggestion, and James muttered a quick curse under his breath and shot a spell towards Sirius as Lily turned away to regain her composure. As Sirius' footsteps could no longer be heard, both realized they were alone again and Lily felt a heightened awareness of their proximity to one another. They were standing inches apart, staring off into the darkness that Sirius had just disappeared into. In an attempt to gain control of the situation, Lily began trudging down the corridor, however, James quickly caught up to her. They walked in silence, neither knowing what to say.

The worse thing that could happen, James thought to himself, was for Lily to feel uncomfortable around him during patrols. It was his only chance to win her over and she had to trust him. So he thought quickly and took a course of action.

"Hey Lily look, my head is inflated because of my ego," James said.

Lily turned to her right and saw that James' head was almost five times as large as its original size. He looked as if he was going to pop. Lily couldn't help, but laugh at the rather ridiculous sight that was before her.

"Perhaps you can pop it for me like you are always saying you will," James continued.

Lily took her wand out and said a quick shrinking charm and James' head was once again back to its normal size. However, James' antics had done the trick; Lily seemed more at ease with him.

"As much as I hate to admit it, that was a pretty impressive display of human transfiguration. All I can manage so far is enlarging my teeth and that isn't very useful," Lily said after she recovered from laughing.

"Go on then," James said, eager to see Lily give herself beaver teeth.

"I'm not going to show you, you will just laugh at me," Lily said stubbornly.

"Hey I enlarged my head for you didn't I?" James protested.

"Yes, but that wasn't very hard considering it is rather large all by itself," Lily countered.

"I'll have you know that plenty of people think I have a very nice head and it isn't large, it's just big to fill all of my brains," James said sarcastically. "Now go on and show me your large teeth."

"Alright, but you have to promise not to laugh," Lily said holding out her finger in an attempt to force James to pinky swear his allegiance.

James entwined his pink with Lily's and said, "I promise."

Lily pulled back and then shut her eyes tightly. She twisted her face in concentration and scrunched her nose so that she looked as if she eaten something sour. James was trying hard not to laugh at Lily's intense expression as he had made a promise to her. Suddenly her front teeth started to grow until they were ten times their normal size. She looked like a giant rabbit. James' eyes were streaming with tears and Lily quickly caught him.

"You swore you wouldn't laugh," Lily argued, but it was hard to say with her enlarged teeth.

James just shook his head, not wanting to say anything, because if he did he wouldn't be able to contain the laughter.

"These aren't tears of laughter," James tried to say with a straight face.

"Yes they are, you can't hide them from me James Potter," Lily said as she stared at him intently.

Finally James got himself under control and then stood to face Lily, but to his disappointment, her teeth were back to their normal, perfect size. She glared at him, attempting to be mad, but instead she just laughed. James soon joined her and they were both in fits of laughter as they reminisced about their distorted forms.

"You looked like a pumpkin head," Lily teased as she tried to catch her breath.

"Yeah well you didn't look too hot either with a smile resembling one similar to that muggle Queen Elizabeth," James retorted.

At this accusation, Lily laughed even harder.

"James I didn't know you paid attention in muggle studies, I'm proud I really am," Lily said in mock astonishment.

"You constantly underestimate my abilities. I am quite studious you know," James said, trying to act hurt.

They spent the next hour laughing as hard as they ever had as they bantered back and forth and joked around. The time passed so quickly that when James next looked at his watch it was midnight. His heart sank a little bit at the idea of ending his evening with Lily.

"It's midnight, so we should probably get back to the common room," James said half-heartedly.

Lily found herself not wanting the evening end as she was actually enjoying James' company. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"We could go back to the tower and go to bed, or we could go the kitchens and get a cuppa and something to snack on?" Lily asked rather casually.

James' face lit up at this suggestion.

"I am feeling a bit peckish myself and I happen to know a short cut," James said as he grabbed Lily's hand and they were off to the kitchens.

After three secret passages, two swinging portraits, and a series of winding staircases, they reached the entrance to the kitchens. James said the password and when they entered, the smell of butterbeer hit their noses.

A small house elf approached them and bowed deeply.

"Tinky is so happy to see Mr. Potter and Ms. Evans. What can he get for you both? The usual? A pumpkin juice for you Ms. Evans and a butterbeer for you Mr. Potter?" the house elf asked.

James and Lily looked at each other and grinned.

"I didn't know you patron the kitchens after curfew," James said surprised.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Lily replied coyly. "I happen to be quite the rule breaker."

James laughed at the though of the perfect prefect breaking rules. Lily was a model student who abhorred people who thought they were above the rules.

"And I happen to be best friends with one of the biggest troublemakers in school," Lily concluded, trying to fill in the blanks for James.

"Oh yes, Cara Stinson is quite the miscreant. She's out to give Sirius a run for his money," James replied as he conjured a table and chairs for Lily and himself. "But I always thought you were against breaking rules."

Lily took a seat across from James and reached for the warm cup of pumpkin juice that sat in front of her and took a sip.

"I'm against you breaking the rules, and I only break ones that don't matter and when I do it, other people don't suffer the consequences," Lily replied.

James laughed and then proceeded to tell Lily about his favorite rules to break. He wasn't particularly fond of curfew, or not practicing magic on his fellow students; especially on Snape. They drank their beverages and continued to talk, and Lily realized that talking to James was effortless. He was intriguing, engaging, and somewhat humorous. He had passed the litmus test required for her patrolling partners; if tonight had proven anything it was that she would never be bored with James.

After gorging themselves on several dishes the house elves had prepared and spending a great deal of time discussing the incompetence of the Ministry of Magic in battling Lord Voldemort, Lily and James decided it was finally time to turn in.

"While Bagnold knows what she is doing some of the time, the rest of that lot acts as if they have been hit by the confundus charm. And lets not get started on the infiltration by death eaters," James said in between sips of his butterbeer.

"But that's why it's important to join the ministry and change things from the inside," Lily argued.

"Yeah and also do a little work on the side to get the ball really rolling on defeating this maniac," James retorted.

They cut their discussion short when they reached the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower. James said the password and they walked into the familiar room. The world where it was just the two of them ceased to exist and they were back to reality. James said goodnight and headed off to his dormitory. Lily did the same, but before she reached the landing she turned around.

"Thanks for tonight James," Lily said quietly.

Both Lily and James knew that she wasn't referring to the silly antics for the mass quantities of sweets consumed, but rather of James' diffusion of the awkward situation in the hall. However, James played it off, not wanting to let Lily know that he had broken her code.

"I hope I am half as entertaining as Remus was. He is the real comic in the group," James replied with a smile.

Lily returned the smile and then waved goodnight.

"Don't tell Remus, but you are definitely on my list of top five patrolling partners," Lily said with a yawn.

"Ah isn't that sweet, perhaps you can give me an award and I can hang it on my wall," James said cheekily.

Lily just shook her head and headed off to bed. They parted ways and both realized that they hadn't argued once the entire evening. Perhaps it was the dawning of a new era.


	4. You Gave Me Your Wings

**_A/N: Here is a juicey update, and I have lots more planned. As long as the evil school gods don't thwart me I should update again soon. Hope you like this chapter because it took me forever to write. More goodies to come. Thanks for reading and please review because it makes me happy. Happy Halloween everyone. _**

James felt weightless as he soared through the night sky. It was now pitch dark out, but that didn't stop him from flying. Quidditch practice had been over for almost an hour, but James had stayed behind. He relished the time he spent on his broom when it was just him and the never ending horizon. It was cold out, marking the beginning of fall, but that didn't bother James. He dove and rolled, thinking only about the sensation he felt in his stomach whenever he flew.

Back in the common room a rather irritated Lily Evans was stomping around as she waited impatiently for James to return.

"He is so irresponsible, he knows we have a meeting," Lily muttered to herself.

Sirius came downstairs from his dormitory, hair still wet from the shower, and saw Lily pacing about like a caged lion ready to pounce.

"Alright there Evans?" Sirius said as he went to join Remus for a game of chess.

Lily glared at Sirius and he threw his arms up apologetically.

"Hey I was just asking, no reason to give me one of those death glares you usually reserve for James," Sirius said as he made his first move.

"Speaking of Potter, you don't happen to know where he is do you?" Lily asked, but it was more like a demand for information.

Sirius looked at his watch and then quickly glanced out the window.

"Well seeing as it's a Wednesday, and it's not nine yet, I'd say he is logging some flying hours out on the pitch," Sirius said.

He made it a point to memorize his best friend's schedule in case he ever needed him for anything.

Lily didn't respond, but left the common room and immediately started to make her way to the quidditch pitch. She stormed down the halls of Hogwarts as she continued to look at her watch to make sure she herself wouldn't be late for the meeting. Soon she was walking across the grounds, barely able to see where she was going. She quickly lit her wand to help guide her and swore under her breath about James' irresponsible behavior.

She got the pitch and immediately began searching for James. It took her a while to locate him, but far off in the distance a dark figure could be seen rushing towards the sky at a neck breaking speed. Lily found herself holding her breath for some reason as she watched James. He seemed so at peace and almost graceful when he was on a broom. She stood there just watching him, unable to call him down. Instead she just watched him as he swooped and soared. Lily had always thought James only played quidditch because it made him popular and gave him something else to brag about. He was, after all, constantly seeking attention. However, for the first time she considered the idea that perhaps James just liked to fly.

James looked down at the ground, loving the rush he felt from being so high above it. Yet as he did, something caught his eye. He flew lower to the ground to get a closer look and soon realized he was being watched. He smiled as he realized that the person was Lily Evans. He flew down to her and as he did, Lily tried her best to look irritated with him.

"Taking a study break?" James asked.

"James are you incapable of time management. It is almost 9 and we have a prefect meeting in" Lily checked her watch to get the exact time "two minutes ago."

At this James laughed.

"Didn't you get my note? McGonagall can't make it tonight so she cancelled the meeting," James said.

Lily turned bright red in embarrassment. Sirius had said he had a note for her from James, but she assumed it was some silly prank and had thrown it away. Now she was looking like a fool. She tried to back pedal, but was at a lost for words.

"Oh? Are you sure?" Lily asked bashfully.

"Pretty sure, I talked to her myself after lunch and sent a note to all of the prefects and you as well to notify everyone of the time change," James said, trying to sound responsible.

Lily was rather shocked by James' responsible behavior and began to feel badly for doubting his abilities as a leader. She had to admit that he hadn't completely muffed the job of head boy, much to her chagrin. She was counting on him being the usual irresponsible idiot that she was used to so she could get him out of her head. Instead he was proving to be reliable and at times almost capable.

"Oh well, thanks for taking care of that. I'll just be going now, sorry to interrupt," Lily said as she turned and headed back towards the castle.

James was about to kick off and head back up into the clouds, when he suddenly had a great idea.

"Hey Evans?"

Lily turned around to look at him questioningly.

"Fancy a go?" James asked as he rumpled his hair, but for some reason Lily looked less than pleased.

She marched up to him and stared at him in the face.

"How many times do I have to say no? I will not snog, shag, or do anything else physical with you," Lily said boldly.

James laughed at the obviously riled red head in front of him.

"I meant for a ride on my broomstick Evans. I wouldn't dare suggest we do anything else, I can't afford to land myself in the hospital wing so close to a quidditch match," James said with a cocky expression on his face.

If it was possible, Lily turned an even darker shade of red. She just couldn't do anything right around James.

"Oh I'm sorry I thought….well never mind. Thanks for the offer, but I'm not much of a flyer," Lily said rather sheepishly.

James hopped off of his broom and walked up to Lily.

"Well that's because you've never flown with an expert flyer like myself," James said as he moved closer to Lily and offered his hand to her.

"Thanks, but I prefer to keep my feet on the ground," Lily said teasingly.

"Come on, just one lap around the pitch. I promise I won't let you fall," James said with a smile on his face.

Despite her better judgment and her head telling her that this would only lead to trouble where her heart was concerned, she felt herself taking a step towards James' broom.

"One lap and that is it and if you do anything dangerous I will kill you," Lily said.

James jumped with excitement. He grabbed Lily by the hand and led her towards his Nimbus 1000. She gingerly mounted the broom with a great deal of trepidation as she hadn't been on a broom since her first year flying lessons. She griped the handle every tightly. James followed suit and got on the broom behind Lily. He put his hands in front of Lily's so he could guide the broom and kicked off of the ground. They were soon soaring up into the air. They climbed in elevation until James decided they were high enough. Lily hadn't managed to open her eyes yet and she had white knuckles from holding on so tightly.

"Open your eyes Lily. I promise I won't let anything happen to you," James coaxed.

Lily reluctantly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Her breath was taken away by the beauty that surrounded her. The moon's reflection was bouncing off of the dark waters of the lake below her. The stars speckled the black night sky and the wind blew through her hair. The feeling of flying was exhilarating. They glided across the night air smoothly and without any turbulence.

"Alright you try steering," James said as he took his hands off of the handle.

The broom began to waffle back and forth and the smoothness was gone. Suddenly they began to plummet and Lily grabbed James' hands and placed them tightly around her waist. She held on to him for her dear life.

"Lily let go and take hold of the broom," James instructed as they continued their free fall.

Lily looked at him with terror spread across her face. James, however, was not concerned as he had flown thousands of times and could take control of the broom in a second; he just wanted to help Lily overcome her fear of flying. He also didn't mind her holding on to him either. However, the ground was becoming rather close.

"You can do it, just take control," James said encouragingly.

Lily could tell that James wasn't going to help her, so she reluctantly let go of his robes that she was so desperately holding on to. She placed her hands firmly on the broomstick and pulled up with all of her strength. To her surprise, they stopped falling and were now flying over the lake.

"I'm flying," Lily said breathlessly as she steered the broom in the direction she wanted to go.

"You are a natural," James said encouragingly.

"Just don't let go of me Potter," Lily said as they began to head for the mountains that overlooked Hogwarts.

James didn't mind that request at all as he snaked his arms around Lily's waist. However, Lily was quick to check him.

"Don't get fresh James or I'll hex you off of the broom," Lily said teasingly.

They continued to soar together through the darkness. With James' support, Lily became more confident in her abilities as a flyer. Soon she was plunging into dives and even managed to do a somersault. When they finally touched back down on the quidditch pitch, Lily was sad to leave the freedom she had felt while on James' broom.

"That was amazing," Lily said breathlessly.

James just looked up at the night sky and smiled with wonder.

"I'll take you again sometime if you like," James said as he tossed his broom over his shoulder.

"I'd like that, it just feels so freeing," Lily said as she looked into the darkness. "And you are a great teacher."

"I come out here when I need to clear my head and get some peace," James said as he and Lily continued to look out over the lake and watch the stars shooting above them.

"Here I was thinking you just liked flying because it made your hair look cool," Lily teased playfully.

James smirked at her and then pointed to the lake threateningly. Immediately, Lily began to run away, not wanting a repeat of the events from sixth year. James chased after her and both were laughing hysterically.

"You made fun of my cool hair, you are going to get it now," James shouted as Lily continued to run circles around him.

However, James was in much better shape from years of quidditch training and quickly caught up to her. When he went to grab her Lily turned around to scream and they both went tumbling to the ground. James landed on top of Lily and they both continued to laugh.

"I told you I'd get you," James said panting for air.

"You cheated and tripped me," Lily said playfully.

Lily giggled as she stared up into James' comforting hazel eyes. They were the same eyes she had looked into when she needed him to help her find the strength to fly the broom. James hair was sticking up in all directions and his glasses were hanging askew on his face. She reached up and straightened them out for him and as she did, she accidentally grazed his cheek. Neither one moved as they continued to study each other. James removed a strand of hair from Lily's face and she peeked up at him through her long eyelashes. James felt lost in her piercing green eyes that seemed to radiate passion. Without hesitation, both leaned in and kissed each other. It was gentle and sweet, but fiery as well. Lily ran her hands down James' back as he held her by the waist and kissed her with everything he had. They couldn't stop as they let their bodies take over. James couldn't get enough of Lily's intoxicating scent and continued to kiss her passionately.

Finally James pulled away.

"I've got to go," he said as he stood up and brushed the grass from his clothes.

Lily looked at him with astonishment. He was actually leaving her. She wanted to stop him, but she couldn't will herself to speak. The pain she was feeling in her heart was too deep. She watched him cross the grounds back to the castle and disappear behind its walls. The tears in her eyes began to well up and soon they were streaming down her cheeks. He had made the conquest and then left her, just like she had always known he would. He didn't love her, she was merely another notch in his belt, someone he could go brag about to his friends. Lily began to feel extremely angry and hurt. She pulled herself up off of the ground and began to walk back to the castle. As she did, she vowed that James Potter wouldn't get the better of her. She was too strong for to let him do this to her.

Back in his dormitory, James punched the wall behind his bed. He then proceeded to throw a few items around the room. He was furious with himself for blowing it. He was doing a fine job being a dependable head boy and a good friend to Lily, he was someone she was starting to trust. And then he had kissed her again. He had let his feelings get the better of him and in that kiss he had thrown away everything he had been building towards. She would think that he only wanted one thing from him, but in reality he wanted so much more. She would never trust him again after what he had done tonight. With that thought on his mind, he punched the same space in the wall again.

"Easy mate, we need those hands for the quidditch match this week," Sirius said as he walked in the room with Remus right behind him.

James rounded on his friends with anger on his face and then pointed his wand at them.

"Leave me alone," James shouted loudly.

Sirius and Remus backed up and went to sit on the opposite side of the room, not wanting to suffer the wrath of James Potter. Sirius racked his brain for the possible causes of James' current anguish. There hadn't been any death eater attacks lately, his friends were alive and kicking, there hadn't been any major tests, but then it dawned on him: Lily. She had obviously found him on the quidditch pitch and things obviously hadn't gone very well.

"You've got it bad mate. What happened with Evans this time, did you set her off again? You two were getting along so well," Sirius said, but he was careful to use a shield charm in case James hexed him.

James looked as if all the air had deflated from his body as he crumpled on his bed. He began to moan and then he covered his face with a pillow and let out a scream of frustration.

"I kissed her," James said as he sat up and stared at his friends.

At this revelation Remus and Sirius crossed the room and immediately joined James on his bed.

"Did she kiss you back?" Remus asked.

James then hit his pillow again and sent an exploding curse at the chair in the corner of the room.

"Oye, stop destroying the furniture and answer Moony's question," Sirius said as he reached up in the air and caught a small chest that had been hurdled across the room.

James flopped back down on his bed and covered his face with a pillow.

"She kissed me back," James said painfully as he relived the moment.

"Well that's a good thing isn't it? I mean know we know that she likes you," Remus said reasonably.

"No it isn't a good thing," James said miserably.

Remus and Sirius looked at each other confusedly. In both of their experiences, when a girl kissed you back and didn't slap you, that generally meant that she liked you, or at least was interested.

"You aren't making sense Prongsie," Sirius said.

"You don't get it; she'll never trust me again. I took advantage of her friendship and kissed her. And we were making good progress, she was actually starting to like me as a person," James said with a great deal of frustration.

"What happened after you kissed?" Remus asked, trying to get the full series of events so he could provide better advice for his friend in anguish.

"I left her," James said with melancholy.

Sirius and Remus jumped up from the bed and shouted together "You left her?"

"I felt terrible for what I had done and I just couldn't bear to see her angry at me again," James tried to explain, shocked at his friends' reactions.

"You idiot," Sirius said as he hit James in the head.

"Oye mate, that hurt, I think I'm in enough pain already," James said as he rubbed his head and glared at Sirius.

Remus pushed Sirius back on the bed and covered his mouth so he couldn't say anything else that would upset James.

"I think what Sirius is trying to say is that Lily probably didn't mind that you guys kissed, seeing as she didn't hex you, therefore you probably shouldn't have run away," Remus said logically trying to help James see the events from Lily's point of view.

At this idea, James immediately sat up with a hint of hope on his face, but then it fell again.

"Shit," James swore as he realized what he had done. "I have to talk to her."

Remus nodded in agreement, and Sirius was protesting silently as Remus has used a silencing charm on him.

"I have to find her," James said urgently as he threw on a sweatshirt and headed for the door.

However, Remus stood up and blocked James' way out of the room.

"Let her cool down James. Talk to her tomorrow," Remus said rationally.

However, James couldn't be stopped. All he knew was that he needed to explain to Lily what had happened. How could he have been so stupid, he thought to himself. She had kissed him, without hesitation and he had blown it. He raced downstairs to the common room, but Lily wasn't down there. However, Cara and Kelly were.

"Have you guys seen Lily?" James asked hurriedly.

Both girls shook their heads, and James ran out of the common room to search the castle for Lily. He visited the astronomy tower, the herbology gardens, the great hall, the kitchens, the dungeons, the prefect common room, and the room of requirement, but she was no where to be found. He started to panic and began to worry that something had happened to her and she hadn't made it back to the castle. If anything ever happened to her, he couldn't live with himself, he thought. He ran outside and did a lap around the grounds to make sure she wasn't still outside, but there was no trace of her.

When he finally gave up and returned to the common room, he felt defeated and depressed. He plopped down on the couch and buried his head in his hands. Lily would never forgive him for this. She would think that he had gotten what he had always wanted from her and left her, he had proven her right. He needed to tell her that he wasn't like that and that he cared deeply for her. However, as the night dragged on and there was no trace of Lily, James began to lose hope.

As the clock stroke midnight, the portrait door swung open and Lily walked in. James jumped up and his face lit up with a smile.

"Lily we need to talk," James said as he went over to her and grabbed her hand.

"This isn't a good time," Lily said quietly.

Lily pulled her hand away. And James soon realized that she wasn't alone.

"Oh hi James. I was just walking Lils back to her room. Good luck with quidditch this weekend," seventh year Ravenclaw Patrick Finnerty said.

James stepped back and he looked as if he had been hit with a painful curse. He stared at Lily, but she refused to look at him.

"Thank you for walking me back," Lily said and Patrick leaned in and kissed her.

Lily kissed him back weakly, but just to sight of someone else kissing her drove James mad. He wanted to hit Patrick with the strongest curse he knew, but he didn't. He had lost Lily, and all in one night. Patrick left Lily and James alone, but both said nothing to each other. Lily walked up to her bedroom without so much as a look in James' direction.


	5. Fight On

**_A/N: Here is another angst filled chapter. It's kind of filler, but I needed it to build up to bigger and better things. Hope everyone likes it. Thanks for the amazing reviews of the last chapter. If you like this story then check out Dueling Hearts as well. It's a little slow in the beginning because I was just starting out, but i promise its good for a laugh. Anyway cheers and I know everyone is excited for GOF next week._**

The bright moon lit up the corridor that Lily and James were patrolling. They hadn't talk for nearly an hour. When one of them said something, it was only out of necessity. James stared at his watch, praying for a hasty end to this relentless torture. Lily just had a look of pain on her face. She couldn't bring herself to look at James because it hurt too much. They hadn't spoken in nearly two weeks and dreaded the time they spent together on patrols. Each occasion was more painful then the next as the silence between them was deafening. Finally James' watch indicated it was midnight.

"Well that's it then," James said wearily.

Lily just nodded her head mutely and they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. As soon as they entered the room, they quickly parted ways, ignoring their friends who were sitting by the fire. Instead they went to their respective bedrooms, not wanting to spend more time together then was necessary. As they headed off in separate directions, their friends just stared at them.

"How much longer is this going to go on?" Cara asked as she flipped through the pages of her defense against the dark arts book.

Sirius looked up from his chess match against Remus and groaned in agreement with Cara.

"I don't know, but if they don't figure this out soon, I'm going to lock them in a closet until they hug it out," Sirius said.

Remus, Peter, Kelly, and Cara laughed at the thought.

"James would lose a limb if you pulled that stunt. Lily would hex him into the next century," Remus said as he made his next move.

"Serves him right after what he did," Kelly said in defense of her friend.

"But don't you think she is taking this a bit too far, I mean dangling Finnerty right in front of James' nose is a bit harsh," Remus replied non-chalantly.

"She has every right to be upset at James, he treated her like he does every other girl in this bloody school," Cara said with irritation at the immaturity of boys.

"He tried to apologize, he was just confused. If Lily didn't jerk him around all of the time, maybe he'd have an easier time understanding what she wanted from him," Sirius said, rather upset at Cara's accusations.

Cara jumped up from her seat to meet Sirius in the middle of the room, both stared at each other.

"Well you can't deny that the two of you treat women as if they are toys, so excuse Lily for feeling a bit hurt now that it has happened to her," Cara said with determination.

"Are you calling me and my mates chauvinistic?" Sirius challenged.

"If the shoe fits Sirius," Cara shot warningly.

"Get off your high horse Stinson, James, Remus, Pete, and I are the best guys you will ever know," Sirius shot back.

"Then why do you have your head up your ass most of the time?" Cara replied.

"Perhaps it's you women that make everything so complicated, ever thought of that?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe we just don't like to be treated as something to be conquered," Cara said and before Sirius could get another word in edge wise, Cara had turned and retreated to her bedroom.

Sirius watched her go, still fuming over what she had said, but also confused at how a conversation about the stupidity of Lily and James had escalated into a battle of the sexes. He sat back down on the couch and put ran his hands through his luxurious black hair that always managed to frame his handsome face perfectly.

"What's got her knickers in a twist?" Sirius asked in frustration as he left Remus and Kelly alone in the common room.

As soon as they were alone, Kelly moved to sit next to Remus, and he put his arm around her. He placed a loving kiss on her forehead and she smiled back.

"Just wonderful, now all four of them are fighting," Kelly said as she stared into the fireplace.

"They'll get over it eventually," Remus said as he stroked Kelly's hair.

"Let's hope so, because if I have to pretend to be nice to Patrick 'I'm really really good looking and I know it' Finnerty, then I might go nuts," Kelly said sarcastically.

Kelly began to imitate how he constantly felt the need to check his reflection, and Remus laughed as she strutted about. Patrick Finnerty was known for being incredibly vain. He had wavy blonde hair and dark blues eyes that most girls found attractive. He was definitely the marauders' greatest competition when it came to girls. Remus knew that it was killing James to watch Lily parade around with the dolt, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He knew that Lily would eventually get bored of the pretty boy.

"Hey what do you say we meet up in Hogsmede tomorrow? We could go on a secret date?" Remus asked as he wrapped his arms around Kelly.

She nodded gleefully at the invitation and then happily skipped off to bed anticipating tomorrow's events. When she got upstairs, she found Lily and Cara sitting on Lily's bed deep in conversation. Kelly plopped down next to Cara.

"What's distressing you two now?" Kelly asked, although she already knew what was bothering them.

Lily and Cara looked at each other and then they looked back at Kelly.

"Men are assholes," was all that Cara said and then she got up from the bed and headed to her own.

"All men or perhaps just one in particular?" Kelly asked inquisitively.

Cara shot Kelly a warning look and then began to huff about as she got ready for bed.

"Will you get it out of your head that Sirius and I like each other. What in our 7 year antagonistic history suggests that we want to snog?" Cara asked angrily as she closed her dresser drawer rather loudly.

"Who says I was talking about Sirius, but since you brought him up I'd say the intense chemistry you have together is a sign that you fancy each other. You've seen it haven't you Lils?" Kelly asked in support for her claim.

Lily looked down at the ground and muttered something. Cara looked at her hard and as if daring to repeat what she had just said.

"You do flirt a lot with him," Lily said weakly.

Cara looked shocked at Lily's answer. Her friends were nutters, she thought to herself. Since when was hexing somebody and yelling at them for being a prat considered flirting. Her friends were obviously delusional.

"We hate each other and that is the end of it," Cara said as she ran her brush through her.

"You like him and if you removed that wall you put up around yourself and let him in then maybe you'd find out that he is a pretty decent guy," Kelly explained as she ran a brush through her long blonde hair.

However, Kelly quickly ducked as a book came hurdling towards her head.

"What did you do that for?" Kelly said shocked at Cara's behavior.

"You think you know everything. Well you don't. You've never had a boyfriend and are clueless about life so stick your nose in someone else's business," Cara said viciously.

At Cara's harsh words, Kelly's eyes began to well up with tears. Lily moved over and put her arms around her obviously upset friend.

"That may be, but at least I am open to the idea of having one," Kelly said in response as the tears poured down her cheeks.

"You wouldn't know what to do with a guy even if he came with instructions," Cara laid in.

Kelly recoiled and ran into the bathroom to escape the nasty barbs that Cara was throwing at her.

"You can be so harsh sometimes, she was just trying to help. " Lily said as she tried to persuade Kelly to come out.

Cara quickly turned on Lily and her eyes were blazing with anger.

"High and mighty Lily, out to judge everyone. Take a look at your own life before you criticize others. At least I'm not a tease like you," Cara replied, with hurt in her voice.

"I never said I was perfect," Lily said quietly.

"You treat James like a toy. He loves you Lils and you are too scared to do anything about it," Cara said.

Lily was content to be tolerant with Cara's outburst, but this was too much. She had laid her heart on the line and it had back fired. She wasn't going to be accused of being scared.

"I kissed him Cara and you know what he did? He ran away. So call him a coward and not me. I got hurt and I learned," Lily said passionately.

"You didn't even give him a chance to explain what happened. You just decided to move on to that idiot Finnerty. That doesn't smack of caring for somone," Cara said as she challenged Lily to correct her.

"Would you have let him explain Cara? He doesn't deserve to explain what happened. He doesn't deserve me," Lily said as she tried to keep the tears from falling freely.

"And Finnerty does? James isn't perfect, but at least he's good for a laugh and isn't in love with his own reflection," Cara said.

"I gave James a chance and he ruined it by being his usual self-centered self. Patrick may not be flawless, but at least he treats me with respect. As a friend I hope you'd want that for me," Lily said as she stood up to leave the room.

"I want you to be with someone who gets you Lily and that certainly isn't Patrick," Cara said.

"And James gets me? If he understood me, he wouldn't have left me on the quidditch pitch in tears," Lily said crossly, visibly pained by the events of that night.

Lily was about to leave the room, but turned around and glared at Cara.

"If you hate my boyfriend so much then maybe we shouldn't be around one another for a while," Lily said finally.

"Fine by me," Cara said stubbornly.

"Great," Lily yelled.

"Grand," Cara shouted back.

Lily slammed the door as she left the common room. She knew about a comfy prefect couch that would have to do for a bed for the night. She didn't need her friends anyway. They were just jealous that she was happy.

Cara sat in the bedroom and stared at the ceiling, but the silence was killing her. Kelly wasn't talking to her after their quarrel so Cara was left to stew. She hadn't meant to be so vicious towards her friends, but every time they mentioned Sirius she felt pain and so she took it out on them.

Last week she and Sirius had been serving detention together. They had been caught using a few toenail growing hexes on some Slytherin third years, and were forced to scrub the girl's bathroom with no magic. Filch, the school's caretaker, had been watching them diligently, but when his cat suddenly collapsed, he had rushed her to the infirmary. So that left Cara and Sirius alone.

Cara hadn't meant to tip over the bucket of soapy water that accidentally soaked Sirius' shoes, and Sirius claimed it was an act of clumsiness when he threw a wet sponge at her in retaliation. Soon they were engaged in an all out water fight. They were dumping buckets of water on each other's heads and slipping and sliding all over the wet tile floor. At one point they both collided and landed next to each other on their backs. They laughed hysterically as they lay in a puddle of dirty water and soap. Suddenly Sirius leaned over and kissed her. It was a tender kiss that she never expected Sirius was capable of. She liked the feeling of his lips on hers.

"You are beautiful do you know that?" Sirius said as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I bet you use that line on all of the girls," Cara said playfully as she looked up at Sirius.

After that, they had parted ways, but Cara couldn't erase the feeling that he had left on her lips. However, she quickly realized what she meant to Sirius when she was coming back from a late night studying session in the library and saw him snogging a fifth year Ravenclaw. Before the couple could see her she quickly turned around and found another way back to the common room. It explained why she had blown up at him in the common room at him and was so adamant about her hatred of him despite her friends' suspecting otherwise.

As Cara thought about all of this she began to feel suffocated by her surrounding. She was proud and independent and hated the idea that she was now one of many on Sirius' list. The walls seemed to be closing in on her so she stormed out of the room and down the stairs. She marched across the common room not looking where she was going and with a thud, she ran smack into someone.

"Oi that hurt Stinson," a deep voice said.

Cara, who was now sprawled across the carpet, looked up and immediately her stomach flopped.

"Maybe if you weren't sitting in the middle of the floor people wouldn't trip over you," Cara said as she tried to pick herself up.

Sirius lent her a hand and she grudgingly took it. He had been sitting on the floor by the fire talking to his cousin Andromeda when Cara had interrupted their conversation. Andromeda was now gone and Sirius was a bit mad that he hadn't even gotten to talk to her little spitfire daughter, Nymphadora. They were in hiding from Voldemort and he rarely got to talk to them.

"I was talking to my family Stinson so bugger off," Sirius said as he pulled himself up from the ground.

He took a seat on the couch and watched Cara as she stared back at him with her hands on her hips.

"Who knew someone like you actually had a family?" Cara joked as she straightened out her clothes, which were tad skimpy considering they were her pajamas

"Well Andromeda is the closest thing I have to it," Sirius said darkly, not wanting to recount his history with his repulsive family.

"I thought you had a brother," Cara said as she took a seat next to Sirius.

Sirius grunted in agreement, but didn't really care to elaborate.

"Yeah, right little chip off the old Black family block he is. Mother's little prize," Sirius replied as he stared off into the fire.

Being from an old wizarding family herself, Cara knew the prejudices that some families had against muggleborns and half-bloods. The Blacks were notorious for their pride in pure blood and support for Lord Voldemort. Despite her current displeasure with Sirius, she knew that he was deeply scarred by the wounds his family had inflicted. To his parents, Sirius was a failure and a disgrace. Cara couldn't help, but feel sorry for him. Her own parents loved her and supported her no matter what and she couldn't imagine what it would be like to have the ones who are supposed to love you the most, despise your very existence.

"If it counts for anything I've always really admired how you stood up against them. That takes courage," Cara said quietly, not wanting to provoke Sirius' rage.

She still remembered when he had received a letter from his mother officially informing him that he had been cut off from the Black family fortune and burned from the family tree. He had hexed James and anyone who came near him. He drank a lot of fire whiskey and disappeared for a day. When he came back he wouldn't tell anyone where he had gone.

"What do you know about it?" Sirius said as his mood darkened.

"I am trying to be supportive Sirius, why must you always be so difficult?" Cara responded.

Sirius looked at her and felt as if she could see his very heart. He still didn't understand why she was so displeased with him, but there was something about Cara that piqued his interest.

"Sorry, I'm just not keen on pouring my heart out. I have a reputation to protect," Sirius said as he stretched out on the couch.

He moved with the grace of a panther as he sprawled his long limbs across the furniture.

Cara took a seat at the end of the couch and joined Sirius in staring at the fire. They sat comfortably in silence for a while, caught in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Cara broke the silence.

"Sirius where did you go that night you disappeared last year?" Cara asked casually.

Sirius turned to look at her and studied her face. Her sparkling eyes roped him in as her long dark hair cascaded over her shoulders.

"What's the pool up to now?" Sirius asked.

"The pool?" Cara asked casually.

"Yeah there is a bet going on about where I disappeared to. My favorite theory is that I partied with a gang of giants," Sirius said as he brushed his hair out of his face.

Cara laughed at this idea.

"I didn't know there was a pool, wish I had gotten in on it though," Cara said easily as she played with her hair.

Sirius hadn't told anybody what had happened that night, not even James. It was something he decided he would keep to himself. But something about the way Cara looked at him made him trust her.

"Well there really isn't much of a story to tell. I got drunk and spent the night in Hagrid's hut sobering up," Sirius said nonchalantly as he rested his eyes for a minute.

"That's it?" Cara pressed.

She expected something more adventurous and daring from Sirius. Passing out in Hagrid's hut wasn't glamorous, which was what she had come to expect from Sirius.

"Well that's what I remember from the evening, but I did manage to get a tattoo somehow," Sirius said casually.

This immediately piqued Cara's interest.

"I want to see it," Cara demanded as she searched any exposed skin that Sirius was showing for a mark.

"It's in a place that isn't exactly appropriate to show a young witch such as yourself," Sirius stated lazily.

He was beginning to doze off

"But maybe someday," he finished.

Cara pouted for a bit, but when she realized that Sirius had fallen asleep, she realized it was a waste of time. Instead she curled up at the end of the couch and closed her eyes. She fell asleep fast and dreamed that perhaps someday she would be able to trust Sirius Black with her heart.


	6. Hogsmede Angst

**_A/N: Hi all, sorry for the long time inbetween updates. Thanksgiving and end of semester papers made updating quite difficult. However, bare with me and I should update more regularly over winter break. I've got a lot of good stuff planned out. So tell me what you think of this chapter. I had some serious writers block with it so if some of it is dumb I'm sorry. The next few chapters will be lots offun though. So read and review. Love you all and your beautiful reviews._**

Lily gave herself one last look in the mirror. Her hair was down and in curls, and she was wearing her favorite black sweater with a pair of jeans. Now all she needed was her coat, which she quickly threw on. She checked her watch and realized that she was at least ten minutes late for her date with Patrick. She raced out of Gryffindor Tower to the great hall. When she finally arrived, Patrick was standing there checking his watch and taping his foot impatiently.

"There you are, I thought perhaps you had gotten lost," Patrick said as he saw Lily walking toward him.

He quickly grabbed her arm in an attempt to escort her out of the castle.

"I thought we could go to Madame Pudifoot's for a cup of tea and then we can do whatever you please," Patrick drawled as he and Lily started down the path to Hogsmede.

Lily looked at him and smiled. This was the way a guy was supposed to act towards the girl he fancied. Patrick was the complete opposite of James and that pleased Lily at the moment.

"That sounds delightful," Lily said, trying to sound as demure as possible.

Patrick kissed her on the head as Lily slipped her arm through his. She pulled herself close to him in order to keep warm and they trotted off down the hill towards Hogsmede, the picture of bliss.

Watching from afar, James let out a low growl in his throat.

"What does she see in that git anyway?" James said as glared in Patrick and Lily's general direction.

He was quickly followed by Sirius, Remus, Peter, Cara, and Kelly; although Cara and Kelly weren't exactly speaking.

"I think she is just burning off some steam," Remus said helpfully.

Cara and Kelly didn't look at each other, but both girls had the same reaction as they snorted in contempt.

"If she would rather spend time with that daft prick then with us that is her choice isn't it. Let's not let her ruin this beautiful day for us," Cara said levitated a pile of fallen leaves and then dropped them on Sirius's head.

Sirius quickly retaliated by picking up Cara and throwing her into another pile of leaves. Soon the six Gryffindors were laughing and playing quite boisterously as they watched Cara and Sirius chase after one another; threatening an array of hexes as they went. James and Remus cheered on Sirius as Kelly looked on in amusement. Not wanting to get caught up in the chaos, Peter hung back.

Meanwhile Lily was enjoying an interesting conversation with Patrick about the time he had met the minister of magic. However, when she heard the loud cries of her friends, Lily turned around and suddenly she felt envious. She quickly pushed her thoughts away. Patrick was mature and intelligent, as opposed to her fellow Gryffindors who acted like children and made fools of themselves. She was too stubborn to admit that she missed her friends and their antics. Instead, she turned her attention back to Patrick and continued to listen to his story with as much interest as possible.

When Lily and Patrick arrived in Hogsmede, they went in a different direction then the rest of her friends. While James and his gang headed towards Zonko's joke shop to fill up on pranks and gags, Patrick guided Lily to the cozy little tea shop owned by Madame Pudifoot. Lily had only been to the place once, but she distinctly remembered thinking it was quite overdone.

When they entered, little hearts had been enchanted to fly around the room and little cupids circled around shooting tiny arrows at the couples who were scattered about the cramped space. Lily looked around and recognized most of Hogwarts' popular couples sharing a cup of tea and the occasional stolen kiss. Alice Green and Frank Longbottom were in one corner snogging. In another corner one of the Ravenclaw prefects and the captain of Ravenclaw's quidditch team making eyes at one another. Lily tried hard not to laugh as she thought it was quite sweet that Patrick had brought her here. However, the atmosphere was a bit mushy for her.

Patrick led Lily to a small table in the corner of the tea house. It was lit with candles and had a fancy lace table cloth. He pulled out her chair for her and Lily took a seat and thanked him for this thoughtfulness. They began talking about the upcoming NEWTS and their goals after graduation.

"I've always wanted to become an Auror, and especially now with Voldemort out on the loose and attacking muggleborns and muggles, I feel like it's my obligation," Lily said passionately.

Patrick looked at her rather quizzically.

"Sounds rather dangerous to me, I don't want you to get hurt," Patrick replied with concern in his voice.

Lily was a tad taken aback by his answer. When she had told James about her aspirations, they began talking about entrance exams and how they couldn't wait to get in the field. However, Patrick didn't seem as enthusiastic.

"Well they will train me first so that I can take care of myself," Lily tried to argue back.

Patrick just smiled and nodded.

"Of course they will, you'll be brilliant no matter what you do," he replied as he kissed her hand.

However, Lily got the distinct impression that he was trying to change the subject to make her forget about her goals. When Madame Pudifoot came over to take their orders, Patrick ordered for them. Lily didn't think much of it, however, and chalked it up to his old fashioned chivalry. They continued to talk about idle gossip and such fluff and Lily continued to shove any doubts to the back of her head as she convinced herself that Patrick was a true gentleman.

When they left the tea shop, Lily and Patrick wandered back down to the village and perused the different shops. Patrick didn't think it was very funny when Lily gave him an ear wax bertie bean as a joke and they skipped Zonko's all together as Patrick thought it was immature. However, as they walked by, Lily's fellow seventh year Gryffindors ran out of the shop.

"I didn't think it was possible Prongsie, but you finally got us kicked out of Zonko's" Sirius said as he slapped James on the back with approval.

James had accidentally set off a few of the pranks in the store and in doing so he had infuriated the owner.

"What can I say, it has taken years of practice to get to the level I am at now," James said with glee.

However, when they saw Lily with Patrick, the group immediately straightened up. They began bowing to each other and offering their arms to one another.

"Miss Stepford may I have the pleasure of escorting you around this lovely afternoon?" Sirius said in a very stuffy voice.

"Why Mister Black I would like nothing else," Cara said in return.

They continued like this and Lily glared at them. However, Patrick was oblivious to the gests at his expense. James walked up to Lily and bowed deeply.

"Miss Evans and Mr. Finnerty I trust you are having a lovely afternoon. I apologize for my friends' behavior. I hope we didn't disturb," James said formally.

Lily glowered with contempt, but Patrick was first to respond.

"No worries James, we were just strolling. Have a lovely day," Patrick said.

James nodded and tried desperately to contain his urge to laugh. Lily just pulled Patrick ahead. However, she quickly turned around and shot a spell at James. It was so fast that Patrick didn't know what had happened. Yet James was suddenly growing a large set of teeth.

"Bloody woman," James swore after Sirius had kindly reduced his teeth.

"That bloke Finnerty makes me want to puke he's so uptight," Sirius said as he glared down the road to where Lily and Patrick were now admiring a set of dress robes in the window of Gladrags.

"He's boring as dirt," Cara said as she came up beside Sirius and James.

James and Sirius nodded in agreement.

"I hope she is suffering immensely from his trite bullshit and she deserves it for being so stubborn," Cara continued.

However, this caught James and Sirius' attention.

"You mean she doesn't really like Finnerty?" James asked; his hopes suddenly rose.

Cara laughed at the suggestion. Although she was mad at Lily at the moment, she knew her best friend better than anyone. Lily was just too stubborn for her own good sometimes. She was dating Patrick to prove a point. The point happened to be that she wasn't in love with James. So she had decided to date someone who she thought was the complete opposite of him.

"She is only dating him to piss you off James. You hurt her and she is just protecting herself," Cara replied.

"I didn't mean to. I don't expect you to understand, but I did what I did because I thought it was what Lily wanted," James said as he stared off down the road towards Lily and Patrick, who were now kissing.

Seeing, his friend's anguish, Sirius sent a quick burning spell that he hoped would distract Patrick from Lily's lips.

"I know you'd never do anything to hurt her. She'll come around and it would help if you tried to talk to her," Cara said.

"She won't listen to me. She wants nothing to do with me anymore," James said rather dejectedly.

In order to break up the rather intense conversation, Sirius threw her arms around James.

"I'll never leave you Jamsie. You'll always have my love," Sirius said in a girly voice.

Cara laughed hysterically and told the boys to get a room.

Meanwhile Remus and Kelly had managed to sneak off undetected and were now walking around Hogsmede hand in hand. They soon found themselves at the fence that overlooked the shrieking shack.

"I've always been curious about that shack, let's go take a closer look," Kelly said as she began to scramble over the fence.

Remus looked at the place where he spent some of his most painful nights during his transformation into a werewolf and he grimaced.

"I'd rather not," Remus said as he backed away from the fence.

Kelly was already on the other side. She looked at Remus, who was looking rather pale, and challenged him.

"What are you scared that the ghosts will get you? Big Bad Remus is afraid of some little ghosts," Kelly taunted.

She thought she was being funny, but Remus wasn't laughing.

"Come on Rem, it's not really haunted. Let's go give it a look," Kelly pressed, unsure as to why Remus was being so reluctant.

"I said no," Remus said rather gruffly.

Kelly was taken aback by the harshness of his tone and climbed back over the fence and approached Remus.

"Is something the matter Remus? You know you can tell me," Kelly said as she looked up into his troubled eyes.

"Just leave me alone," Remus said, and with that he stormed off towards the castle.

Kelly stood there shocked at what had just occurred. Tears began to collect in her eyes as she watched Remus disappear. She didn't understand what she had done to upset him.

Later that night Lily walked into the common room after she had said goodbye to Patrick. She had a smile on her face that wouldn't go away. Her friends stared at her in confusion as she sat down in one of the chairs and continued to day dream. Cara and Kelly quickly got up and left as they didn't want to be within ear shot when Lily started extolling the virtues of Patrick.

"Earth to Lily," Sirius finally said as Lily continued to hold a goofy expression on her face.

"Oh sorry I guess I was just a little preoccupied," Lily said as she began to blush a deep shade of red.

"If you say you were thinking something naughty about Finnerty I might throw up," Sirius teased.

Lily gave him a disapproving look and hit him in the shoulder.

"Better to imagine then to see the real thing like what I've caught you doing a few times Black. You've scarred me for life," Lily replied haughtily.

Sirius laughed at his own shenanigans, but when he saw James come down the stairs, he quickly retreated, hoping that perhaps this would be an opportunity for Lily and him to talk.

James looked around for an empty spot to sit and when he realized the only place was a chair next to Lily, he groaned inwardly. He reluctantly plopped down in the big red arm chair and opened his charms book. Lily looked at him and gave a sniff of disapproval. James attempted to ignore her by paying very close attention to his book, but couldn't help, but glance at her every once in a while. She was beautiful, he thought to himself. He loved the way she bit her lip when she was concentrating really hard, or how strands of her vibrant hair fell in front of her face. Lily, who was now writing an essay, pulled her head up in time to catch James staring at her.

"Do you have a problem Potter?" she asked rudely, annoyed that he was interrupting her studies.

James shook his head and smirked a little as he trained his eyes on the words in front of him. However, now he felt Lily staring at him. She was irritated by his presence. She hated the way his hair stood up and the way he constantly mussed it up. She hated the way he sat and the way he looked when he was reading. She hated everything about him.

"Can you please just leave me be," Lily said finally.

James looked up from his book and gave her a confused expression.

"I'm just studying, this is a free country you know," James retorted as he went back to reading his book.

Lily glared at him and gave a frustrated groan.

"You are just trying to pester me and it won't work," Lily said again.

This time James put down his book and stared back at her.

"Everything in this world doesn't revolve around you Lily so I can sit wherever I want and do whatever I please," James said as he continued to look her in the eyes.

Lily felt unnerved by the look James was giving her, but her pride got the better of her.

"I know what you are trying to do and it won't work. I am dating Patrick and I'm quite happy so just leave me alone," Lily said as she stood up and went over to James so she could tower over him.

James looked up at her and smirked.

"And you call me egotistical? I have no intention of asking you out so bugger off. I was just trying to study," James said sarcastically.

Lily, however, wouldn't back down. She was determined to prove that James had no chance with her anymore and that she was perfectly happy with Patrick.

"I happen to like Patrick very much," Lily laid in.

At this James stood up and when he did, he towered over Lily. He was not going to be accused of pining over Lily or being jealous of her git boyfriend.

"Keep telling yourself that Lily and maybe it will come true," James said rather viciously.

Lily stared at him and felt the urge to slap him. She placed her hands on her hips and glared up at James.

"At least he respects me," Lily retorted.

James laughed at the thought. Patrick didn't respect Lily, he merely liked the way she looked on his arm.

"He respects you, does he? Then what did he say when you told him you wanted to be an Auror?" James said roughly.

"That is none of your business," Lily said tartly, but James had definitely hit a nerve.

They stood in the middle of the room glaring at each other and everyone else was looking at them.

"Maybe he'll knock some sense into her," Cara said to Sirius as they watched from the window seat in the back of the room.

Finally, James grabbed Lily by the hand and dragged her outside of the common room so they could fight in private. When they reached the hall, he finally let go of her.

"You are so stubborn, you don't really like that git, you are just trying to get back at me," James said angrily.

"How do you know what I want James?" Lily said as she turned to walk away.

However, James grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around so she was facing him.

"I know that you need someone who challenges you and isn't afraid to tell you when you are being a pain in the ass. I know you need someone who respects your talent," James said passionately.

Lily stared at him and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"I hate you James. I hate what you did to me," Lily shouted angrily.

With that, Lily turned and ran off down the corridor. Tears were streaming down her face and blurred her vision, but that didn't stop her. She wanted to get as far away from James as possible. She was happy with Patrick and James had to ruin everything. James was wrong, Patrick was perfect for her. He was dependable and sensible, not off his rocker like James. However, she couldn't help but remember the passionate and intense kisses that they had shared.


	7. Crime and Punishment

After their fight, Lily and James managed to avoid each other for the rest of the week, neither one wanting to confront each other about the things that they had said. For his part, James had thrown himself into preparing his team for the upcoming match against Slytherin. However, the other members of the Gryffindor squad were less then excited with their captain's new found motivation as he kept them out late and was prone to jumping down their throats when something wasn't to his liking.

Lily on the other hand, had made it her new mission to prove to herself just how perfect Patrick was for her. This meant that when classes weren't in session of she didn't have Head Girl duty; she could be seen committing public displays of affection all over the castle with Patrick. She was convinced that if she kissed Patrick enough, the kisses would mean as much to her as the ones she had shared with James.

Saturday afternoon found Lily in the library studying contently with Patrick. They were hard at work on a Transfiguration project. They were attempting human transfiguration. As Patrick turned himself effortlessly into a chair, Lily couldn't help but remark at his brilliance. James could only enlarge his head, which isn't very hard since it is so enormous anyway, Lily thought to herself. She didn't know where these thoughts came from, but she constantly found herself mentally comparing James and Patrick. She somehow managed to give the edge to Patrick even when he didn't deserve it just to legitimize her dislike of James.

"That was brilliant Patrick. That will definitely get you full marks on your NEWTS," Lily said as Patrick turned back into himself.

It was now Lily's turn and she transformed into a flower vase with relative ease. She didn't want to tell Patrick that during her brief friendship with James she had learned to do this with his help. She remembered the tutorial quite well.

"Just concentrate on feeling like the object you want to become," James instructed as stepped closer to Lily and whispered in her ear.

She had shivered at his nearness, but when he touched her shoulders to help her relax, Lily immediately felt herself reach a state of calm. She pictured becoming a vase in her mind and all of a sudden she felt her self become stiff and rigid. Her body was no longer present, but a beautiful green vase rested in her place. When she returned to herself, Lily immediately hugged James.

"That was amazing. I can never get my mind clear enough to transform and somehow you managed to get me to relax," Lily said as she flung her arms around James' neck.

He grinned at her and hugged her back.

"Knew you could do it," James said as they pulled apart. "You always were the brightest witch in our year."

Lily was pulled out of her reverie as she heard the clock strike two.

"Oh I'm afraid I have to run, I have to tutor a third year in charms. I'll see you later tonight," Lily said as she packed up her books.

She packed up her books gave Patrick a quick kiss as she scurried out of the library. She

had to find her way to the charms classroom within five minutes, so she'd have to hurry. As soon as Lily was out of sight, Patrick's friends approached him. They took a seat at the table he was working at.

"You are wasting your time with her mate," Ryan Crest, a brown haired Ravenclaw said.

"Yeah she is too much of a prude for your liking," another boy said jokingly.

Patrick just continued to smile. He knew what he was doing. Lily Evans was smart and beautiful, and although she was a muggleborn, his parents would certainly approve of her. She was head girl after all. It was a perfect match. Although, it was a slight problem that she wanted to be an Auror; he was going to have to change her mind about her career goals.

"She's perfect for my image you git so bugger off. She may not be loose like the girls you hang around, but who is to say I can't do other things on the side. She is so besotted with me that she will never know," Patrick said with a smirk.

His friends laughed loudly at Patrick's suggestion. They slapped him on the back and then left him to finish his work.

"You are the king mate," another boy said as he and his friends left the library.

Patrick finished up his essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and then began to pack up his bag. He gave a group of Slytherin girls a dashing smile and then left the library. He wasn't much for studying, but Lily insisted on it, and he was starting to get sick of the dusty books and the harsh looks that Madame Pince always gave him. He was walking down the corridor back to the Ravenclaw common room when something caught his eye. Cara Stinson, arguably one of Hogwarts' most beautiful girls, happened to be walking alone in the same hallway that he was. And luckily for him, the stairs had just changed and she was now stuck on the same level as him.

Cara saw Patrick and decided not to make eye contact. She resented him for causing the rift between her and Lily. However, when Patrick stepped in front of her it became hard to ignore him.

"Excuse me," Cara tried to say politely, but her irritation was obvious.

Patrick just looked down at her and gave her a cocky grin.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked as he moved closer to her.

Cara backed up, but that just made Patrick move towards her. She looked at him with confusion in her eyes.

"I feel terrible that we haven't gotten to know each other better," Patrick continued.

Cara didn't like what was happening and quickly searched for her wand in case she needed to teach Patrick a lesson about personal space. However when she reached inside her robes, she found that her wand was missing. She looked at Patrick and he was holding her precious wand.

"There is no need to use wands Cara, I just want to talk to you," Patrick said quietly.

He took a step towards her and put his hands on her waist. Cara tried to push him away, but he was bigger then she was and he didn't seem to be budging.

"I've always thought you were beautiful," Patrick said as he grazed Cara's cheek with his hand.

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Cara just looked at him with wide eyes. This was Lily's boyfriend that was harassing her.

"What about Lily?" Cara asked as she pulled away from Patrick's grip.

He laughed somewhat sardonically and for a moment, Cara saw something dark in his eyes.

"Lily doesn't have to know," Patrick said as he pinned Cara up against a wall.

His heavy body made it impossible for her to move. With all of her strength, Cara freed her arms and then slapped Patrick with all of the force she could muster. Patrick stood there with a stunned expression on his face as he put his hand over the mark that Cara had left. Cara wasted no time in running away, but Patrick was quick to react; his skills as a seeker had sharpened his reflexes. He grabbed Cara and threw her against a wall. She collided with the stone and knocked her head against the hard surface.

"Bloody bitch," Patrick said menacingly.

Cara's head throbbed, but she stared back at him in defiance. Without her wand she felt defenseless, but she wasn't going to be intimidated. She wracked her brain for ways to escape and then she chided herself for being so stupid. She concentrated extremely hard and as she focused her power, Patrick was blown backwards into the opposite wall.

"Ass hole," Cara said as she kicked Patrick in a particularly sensitive spot. "Thank goodness I've been practicing my wandless magic. And I have always been gifted with the impedimenta curse."

Cara quickly grabbed her wand and fled back down the corridor. Her head was aching and her body throbbed in pain, but she was determined to get back to her room. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her vision was blurred. She felt completely violated and somewhat dirty after what had just happened. She was angry at Patrick and scared for Lily. But most of all she was just confused and hurt. She ran through the portrait hole and once she was inside, she ran straight for Sirius.

Sirius and James had been enjoying a game of chess. James was winning and enjoying his victory over Sirius, when Cara came sprinting through the door with tears streaking her face. She immediately saw Sirius and James and ran towards them. They both stood up in alarm, and Cara went into Sirius' arms and then collapsed into him. She sobbed silently as Sirius rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down. He stroked her long dark hair and rocked her as she clung to his robes. He led her over to the couch, but no once did he let go of her. Cara buried her head in his chest and felt safe. When she had no more tears to shed she peaked up at Sirius and he smiled at her.

"What happened, Cara?" he asked with concern.

Cara wasn't easily shaken and Sirius had never seen her cry before, so to see her this upset meant that something had happened. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the black and blue bump that was forming on Cara's head and bruises on her arms.

"Who did this to you?" Sirius asked again as Cara remained silent.

She just shook her head not wanting to admit what had happened. She didn't want to think about how weak she had felt.

"Patrick," was all that Cara said, but immediately Sirius and James looked at each other in alarm.

Both boys thought that Patrick was somewhat of a pompous ass, but they didn't think that he would hurt a woman. He seemed as dangerous as a butterfly.

"Did Finnerty do this to you?" Sirius asked in order to get confirmation of his suspicions.

Cara nodded her head as she chocked back the sobs that were caught in her throat.

"He attacked me and tried to touch me," Cara said, but she immediately felt embarrassed.

"That bastard," Sirius swore as he thought of ways to get Finnerty back for doing this to Cara.

"I think I made him pay for it when I used wandless magic and cursed him and then kicked him in the balls," Cara said, trying to show that she could handle herself.

Yet she felt extremely weak. She felt ashamed for not being able to stop Patrick and embarrassed that she couldn't protect herself. Sirius felt sick at the idea of someone hurting Cara. He was visibly pained as she recounted what had happened. Not knowing what to do, he just hugged her tightly, willing the pain onto himself. Finally, Cara fell asleep in Sirius's arms. He expertly lifted her up and because he couldn't carry her up to her own room, he took her to his. He laid her down gently on his bed and without thinking, he kissed her on the forehead. With that, he grabbed his wand and left his bedroom with a menacing look on his face. When he got downstairs, James was already waiting for him with the invisibility cloak.

"Smoke and mirrors?" Sirius suggested to James.

"Why do you think I brought the invisibility cloak," James replied angrily.

They were referring to a form of payback that they had developed over the years. James could feel his blood boiling. The idea that his monster was touching Lily drove James mad, but the thought that she might get hurt made him insane. He wanted to inflict pain on Finnerty and he knew that Sirius was just as mad.

"Figure he is on the quidditch pitch?" Sirius asked as they stormed down the castle's hallways.

"Their practice just ended so he should be all alone," James replied as if he could read Sirius' thoughts.

"Brilliant," Sirius said.

They slipped under the invisibility cloak and disappeared into the darkness. They traveled the rest of the way in silence, each thinking of the variety of curses they wanted to use on Patrick.

Patrick was packing up the quidditch equipment. He was having a particularly hard time getting the bludger back into its case. He was struggling to shut the box closed when he heard a noise behind him. He spun around and quickly lit his wand to see where the noise was coming from.

"Who is there?" Patrick shouted with a mixture of bravado and fear in his voice.

James and Sirius were standing ten feet from Patrick, but the cloak made them invisible to him. James sent another blasting curse towards a stick that was lying on the ground and it exploded loudly, making Patrick jump. The point here was to scare Patrick.

"I'm no one to be trifled with," Patrick shouted again, this time with the fear consuming his voice.

Patrick shout a stunning spell out into the air that grazed Sirius' head. Sirius swore loudly.

"This bastard is asking for it now," Sirius said to James. They had used the muffliato charm to keep Patrick from hearing what they were saying.

James nodded in agreement at Sirius suggestion and they decided to take their plan to the next level. They usually reserved this particularly curse for Snape, but they decided Patrick's actions were definitely worthy of their best payback.

"Levicorpus," Sirius and James yelled together.

Patrick was lifted up into the air and quickly flipped upside down as if he were being dangled by his ankles. His eyes were filled with terror as he struggled against the curse that was being used against him. He looked into the night to see who was doing this to him, but all he saw was unending darkness.

"Let me down. Please! I'll do anything," Patrick screamed.

At this point James and Sirius lifted the muffliato charm so that Patrick could hear what they had to say.

"You peace of filth if you ever come near Cara again you'll suffer a lot worse," Sirius shouted.

"I don't know what you are talking about, that bitch is lying," Patrick said defiantly.

Sirius couldn't take it anymore and he ripped the invisibility cloak off of himself and James and let out a low growl in this throat. His temper was getting the better of him. James continued to hold the curse on Patrick and Sirius walked closer to him with his wand at the ready.

"You touch her again and I will kill you," Sirius threatened.

Patrick laughed darkly at Sirius' threat.

"She was asking for it the way she walks around. You know you've thought about it Black," Patrick said maliciously.

Sirius didn't waste anytime as pointed his wand at Patrick and began to shout.

"Expelliarmus," a voice shouted and Sirius' wand flew out of his hand and into the grip of Lily Evans.

After she lowered Patrick to the ground she rounded on Sirius and James with anger in her eyes. She pointed her wand at them.

"You couldn't just leave him alone could you," Lily shouted angrily.

"Lily you don't understand," James said.

"I understand perfectly. You decided it would be fun to scare my boyfriend because I'd rather be with him then the pathetic likes of you," Lily spat as she continued to train her wands on the two boys.

"No Lily please just listen," James pleaded.

He had to tell Lily what Patrick had done to Cara, or he could hurt her next. He didn't care if this made Lily mad at him, he needed to tell her.

"I'm done listening James and I'm turning both of you in to McGonagall for harming another student," Lily said passionately.

Sirius and James just stood there as Patrick looked at them with a gloating expression on his face. Sirius quickly punched him in the face as he didn't have his wand at the moment. Lily ran over to her bleeding boyfriend and performed a quick healing spell.

"That is another month of detention Black for assaulting a student," Lily said as she trained her wand on the two boys and made them start walking back up to the castle.

"Totally worth every trophy I will have to polish," Sirius said in defiance as he marched with a straight back and wouldn't look at Lily.


	8. Bumps and Bruises

**_Author's Note: Happy Valentines Day. Here is an update that should make you feel romantic. Hope everyone likes it. I'm off to go celebrate with my boy. Love you all_**

"I should take your badge away for this Potter, and Black you are already skating on thin ice after that incident with Mr. Snape last year," Professor McGonagall shrieked after she heard a full report of the incident from Lily.

Both boys just looked at the ground, inwardly seething as they watched Patrick Finnerty glow with happiness. Lily stood by Patrick and looked at Sirius and James with disgust.

"I've looked the other way in the past, but this is a serious offense and I can no longer ignore your constant disregard for the rules and for other people," McGonagall continued to lecture.

"We are sorry Professor," James said quietly.

"Don't tell me you are sorry Potter, tell it to Patrick who is the victim in all of this," McGonagall pointed out.

This caused both boys to balk, but they realized that there was no way out of having to apologize to Finnerty.

"Sorry," they both said rather gruffly.

Patrick nodded his head as if accepting their fake apology.

"I appreciate that boys and I hope we can all still be friends for Lily's sake," Patrick said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

To Sirius, this was unbearable. He was using every muscle in his body to restrain his impulse to attack Patrick with every curse he knew. James on the other hand just continued to stare at the hatred in Lily's eyes. Patrick draped his arm over her shoulder possessively and she accepted his embrace in pure spite of James.

"Well it's late, so unless anyone else has anything to say I do believe that a month's worth of detention with Filch will be adequate and if you practice magic on another student again when it is not in a classroom setting, you will be expelled," McGonagall said firmly.

With that she bid the four students good night and returned to her bed chambers. James, Sirius, Patrick and Lily just stood in silence. No one said a word to each other. Lily turned on her heal and left the room without so much as a glance towards James or Sirius. Patrick started to follow her, but then swiftly turned around with a leering expression on his face.

"Say hi to Stinson for me Black and don't worry Potter I'll take good care of Lily," Patrick said quietly, but with menace in his voice.

"You touch a hair on her head and not even she will stop me from murdering you Finnerty," James said threateningly.

Patrick barked with laughter and went to catch up with Lily. James turned to Sirius, but he was no longer there. With slumped shoulders, James resigned himself to retreating to the Gryffindor common room.

Cara opened her eyes and absorbed her surroundings. She saw quidditch equipment scattered on the floor and the joke products were too ubiquitous to count. She realized she was lying on Sirius' bed in the marauders' room. She knew she should leave, but she couldn't.

Instead she stared at the ceiling with a vacant expression on her face. She couldn't shake this feeling she had of vulnerability. She had spent her whole life trying to be strong because that is what her parents had taught her to do. She hated the feeling of weakness that sat in the pit of her stomach. She let a single tear slide down her cheek. She turned on her side to stare out of the window and watched the rain drip down the pane of glass that separated her from the storm. Although, she felt as if nothing could protect her anymore. Alone, where no one could see her, she let down her guard and cried. Her slender body heaved with sobs as she buried her tear stained face into her pillow.

However, she was no longer alone. She felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her. She didn't have to turn around to realize that they belonged to Sirius. She just held on to him tightly. Sirius buried his face into the back of her neck and attempted to absorb all of the pain on to himself.

"Sirius," Cara said through her tears. "Make it go away."

"I will don't worry," Sirius said as Cara slipped under him and he kissed her gently on the forehead.

With each kiss that Sirius gave her, Cara could feel the pain she was feeling leave her body. Afterwards, Sirius held her until she fell asleep again.

James sat in the common room attempting to complete his application to become an Auror. He figured it would take his mind off of Lily and everything that had happened. However, his efforts didn't seem to be working. Every couple of seconds he would glance at the portrait hole to see if she had walked through it yet. He kept imagining Patrick intimidating and hurting her and he cringed at each thought. He was in the middle of writing a foot long essay on his defense against the dark arts abilities when he felt someone reading over his shoulder.

"Some auror you will make Potter, attacking defenseless witches and wizards and intimidating others because you think it's funny," Lily said as her green eyes bore into the back of James' head.

James put his paper down and turned around to face her.

"Some auror you will make, jumping to conclusions without getting all of the information first," James retaliated.

Lily studied James' face as he looked at her with sadness in his hazel eyes.

"I have all the information I need Potter. You attacked my boyfriend because you can't stand it that I am happy. Get it through your thick skull that you and I will never be anything," Lily said passionately.

She wasn't going to lose this battle because she was right. There was no justification for an unprovoked attack on another student. This was just another example of what a bully James Potter was.

"Get it through your thick skull that I am not the worst human being on earth and perhaps I had a reason for doing what I did. If you would just give me a chance to explain…." James started to say, but Lily cut him off.

She put her hand up in objection and stared at James with her cool green eyes.

"You lost your chance to explain anything James. Patrick is twice the man that you will ever be so just leave us alone," Lily said with disdain in her voice.

The hatred that Lily exuded towards James cut him to the quick. He went silent and sat down in his chair as if he had been deflated like a hot air balloon. He watched Lily leave him and walk up the stairs to her bedroom. She sauntered with grace, but also a passion. Unfortunately her passion happened to be hating him at the moment.

Lily fled to her room and crumpled on her bed. She hadn't meant to be so harsh to James, she was just really disappointed and hurt by him. It was hard for her to think that he could be so cruel to someone else just out of spite and jealousy. She didn't want to hear any explanations because as far as she was concerned, nothing could justify what he had done. She lay there staring up at the ceiling with confusion written across her face. However, her solitude was soon interrupted.

Sirius walked into her room carrying Cara. Lily saw the bruises on her face and immediately jumped up to help Sirius.

"What happened Sirius?" Lily asked as she watched Sirius carefully lie Cara down on her bed.

Sirius looked at her with anger and frustration.

"Why don't you ask your friend Finnerty," Sirius said coolly as he kissed Cara on the forehead and left the room.

Lily quickly went through her potions supplies to whip up something to heal Cara's bruises. After adding some essence of merlap, Lily applied the liquid to Cara's cool skin. The bruises began to dissipate and Cara opened her eyes. Lily flung her arms around Cara and she winced with pains.

"Watch the ribs won't you," Cara said as she hugged Lily back.

Lily looked at her with concerned as Cara showed her the bruises around her rib cage and chest.

"How did this happen? Was it a quidditch accident?" Lily asked as she felt Cara's ribs for any breaks.

"It was Patrick," Cara said reluctantly.

She knew that Lily needed to know the truth. Lily wouldn't take it well, but she had to know for her own safety. Lily looked at her with a crestfallen expression. Her eyes showed her confusion.

"What?" she asked hoarsely.

Lily was unable to form any words. She was sure this was some cruel joke that was being played on her.

"He attacked me after I tried to ignore his advances," Cara continued.

Lily shook her head refusing to hear what Cara was saying.

"No it can't be true, this is just some joke you and the marauders are playing on me," Lily said as she tried to find an explanation for what was really going on.

Cara's eyes began to well up with tears, but as painful as it was to tell Lily the truth, she knew she had to continue.

"Lily I know this is hard, but you have to listen to me, he isn't a good person," Cara said quietly.

Lily's eyes began to fill with tears. She shook her head trying to find an explanation for the joke that was being played on her. Patrick was sweet and caring, he would never hurt anyone. She expected Sirius and James to jump out from behind the curtains at any moment to laugh at her. Her head spun as she continued to hear Cara's story, but with each word her disbelief grew. This was just a plot to break them up.

"You never like him from the beginning. You are just trying to break us up," Lily said wildly as she stared at Cara with anger and hurt in her eyes.

"Why would I lie about this? How else do you think I got these bruises?" Cara pleaded as she tried to reason with Lily.

However, Lily wouldn't hear anymore. She ran out of the room with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe that her friends would do this to her. Couldn't they see how important Patrick was to her? She fled out of the tower and down the hallway to go find a place of solace. Tears stained her cheeks sprinted down the corridors to find a place of sanctuary. When she found the prefect's lounge she entered and sealed herself inside.

Lily awoke the next morning after a fitful night's sleep. She tossed and turned over the story that Cara had given her and in the end decided to be prideful. She had no reason to believe that Patrick was violent, as Cara had suggested. However, she did have a nagging feeling that she couldn't shake. But she chose to ignore it because acknowledging that her friends were right would mean that perhaps James Potter was right as well. Instead, Lily collected herself and headed down to the Great Hall to have breakfast with Patrick.

She found him sitting at his usual table with his friends having a laugh over something in the Daily Prophet. She slid in beside him and he snaked his arm around her waist. At the Gryffindor table, James, Sirius, and Cara looked on in disgust.

"That slimey git can rot in hell for all I care and Lily and her stupid pride can go with him," Sirius said as she chewed his food rather furiously.

"I can't believe she didn't believe me," Cara said dejectedly. "That's what hurts the most."

Sirius and James looked at her with concern. Cara wasn't exhibiting her usually saucey attitude or spark. Instead she looked melancholy and withdrawn.

"She's only not believing you because that would mean she would have to believe me," James said as he shifted his food around his plate. "This is all of my fault."

He didn't have much of an appetite.

"No this is her fault for being so stubborn. I just hope she figures it out before something bad happens," Cara said decidedly while she poured herself some pumpkin juice.

Lily didn't talk to any of the Gryffindors for the rest of the day. In each class she made a concerted effort avoid them. During their break, she fled to the library where she knew none of them would ever step foot. And finally at dinner, she sat with Patrick and his lot and then they retreated to the library for some more studying.

James arrived in the Gryffindor common room after a particularly grueling quidditch practice. He wasn't in a very pleasant mood and had forced his players to practice until their arms were about to fall off. If there was one thing that cleared James' mind, it was a good hard training session. However, even that wasn't working for him. He looked at his watch and realized that is was a quarter till nine and he had fifteen minutes to get ready to do rounds with Lily. He shuttered at the awkwardness that he knew would overshadow their patrol.

After quickly showering and throwing on a fresh shirt and jeans, James was downstairs with only seconds to spare. He took a seat in the giant arm chair and waited for Lily. He opened a quidditch magazine and poured through it for new equipment. After about five minutes he looked at his watch. Lily was always on time for their patrols no matter how peeved she was at him. It wasn't like her to be late.

"Hey Evans get a move on we have patrols tonight," James bellowed hoping that she was within earshot.

Kelly poked her head out of the girls' dormitory and gave James a look of annoyance.

"She isn't here James and it is very rude to just shout for people," Kelly said.

"Sorry Kel, I'll keep my search for the head girl to a whisper," James said as he flashed her a smile.

Kelly smiled back at him and returned to her studies. However, James was more perplexed then ever. He scribbled a quick note to Lily in case she came looking for him, and headed off to the library, deciding that was the most logical place she would be. He guessed that she had just lost track of time.

James arrived at the library only to find that Lily wasn't there. According to a few younger Gryffindors she had been there studying, but had packed up a while ago. James scratched his head as he thought of other possible places Lily might be hiding. However, something told him that things weren't right. Lily never missed her head girl duties. He went to the head student common room, but she wasn't there. He checked that astronomy tower, and the prefect bathroom, but his efforts proved to be futile. He even went to the kitchens to see if she was grabbing a snack, but the elves claimed they hadn't seen her.

He was starting to panic as he ran from classroom to classroom looking for Lily. He flung doors open and slammed them shut across the castle. He was out of options and about to go to Dumbledore for help, when he heard voices.

"I'm tired of this charade," a gruff voice said.

James took out his wand and went in the direction the voice was coming from.

"Stop being a tease and give me what I want," the voice said again, this time it was angrier.

"Why are you doing this?" a scarred female voice asked.

After hearing this, James sprinted as fast as he could.

Lily had been studying for charms, when she looked at her watch and realized what time it was. She packed up her things and she and Patrick started to walk back to the Gryffindor tower. However, a staircase had switched on them and they were soon on the wrong side of the castle.

"I'm going to be late," Lily lamented as she thought of alternative routes.

Patrick wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him.

"We are all alone," he said as he stared at her with a wry smile playing on his lips.

Lily laughed as she pulled away.

"I have patrols with James," she said.

However, Patrick grabbed her again and started to kiss her.

"Make Potter wait," he said in a husky voice.

Lily returned the kisses, but pulled away as her nagging conscience got the better of her.

"I have to go Patrick," she pleaded.

However, he wasn't letting go. He pushed her up against the wall and kissed her neck and exposed collarbone. Lily resisted, but Patrick continued his advances.

"What are you doing?" she asked as Patrick continued to run his hands over her body.

"Kissing you," Patrick replied.

Lily pulled away in protest and looked at Patrick with confusion.

"I said I have to go," Lily persisted.

Patrick was growing frustrated and pulled Lily to him again.

"You know you want to," Patrick said as he kissed Lily's forehead.

Instantly Lily knew what was happening. She attempted to free herself from his grasp, but he was too strong. Her head spun with a million thoughts as she tried figure out what to do.

"Stop it, I don't want to do this," she pleaded.

"No one refuses me," Patrick said. "Any girl would give her right eye to be in the position you are in."

Lily looked at him with fear in her eyes and thought of a million curses she wanted to use at the moment.

"Now I'm tired of this charade," Patrick said as he played with the buttons at Lily's blouse. "Stop being a tease and give me what I want."

Lily began to cry, but that didn't stop Patrick as he tore at her robes. Lily began to scream in the hopes that someone would hear her, but she knew it was futile because they were miles away from anyone. However, then she saw a black cloak come out of no where and slam into Patrick. The dark figure and Patrick fell to the ground with a thud and Patrick was quickly punched in the face. Suddenly Lily realized who it was. James pinned Patrick the ground as he stared at him with venom.

"Are you ok?" James asked Lily as he continued to restrain Patrick.

Lily just nodded her head as she was in shock and at a loss for words, but she had never been so glad to see James in her life. James shot ropes out of his wand and bound Patrick so that he couldn't move and then he stood up. He was surprised when Lily flung herself towards him and held onto him tightly. James looked down at her as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," Lily sobbed as James stroked her long red hair in an attempt to console her.

"It wasn't your fault," James said soothingly. "It's his fault for being a giant git."

Lily continued to cling to James as she felt safe in his arms. She buried her head into his chest and cried. And for the first time in weeks, she felt like herself again. She felt whole.

"How did you know where to find me?" she said finally as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"When you didn't show up for patrols, I went to look for you and luckily Finnerty's voice carries," James said as he brushed a strand of hair off of Lily's face.

"I've been so awful to you," Lily said as she stared up at James with an earnest look in her eyes.

"It takes more than your razor sharp tongue to keep me away. I don't scare easily," James said with a smile.


	9. The Truth

**_A/N: Hey everyone, sorry it has been such a long time since the last update. Thanks for sticking with me and I will try to be faster in the future. Anyways enjoy this latest addition to the story and holla back. THX Chloe_**

"Tell the part again where James flattens Finnerty," Cara said gleefully.

Lily, Cara, and Kelly lay sprawled across Lily's bed as Lily told her friends the story of the evening.

"No that part is boring. Get to the part afterwards," Kelly encouraged.

Lily wrapped her arms around her two best friends and filled them in on the night's events.

James and Lily walked down the hallway back to the Gryffindor common room in silence after having taken Finnerty to Professor McGonagall. Still shaken up from the night's events, Lily leaned on James for support

She thought about the past month and just how wrong she had been. When she thought about Patrick she felt betrayed and most of all stupid. Looking back, all of the signs were there. He always tried to control her, whether it was ordering for her on dates or belittling her desire to be an Auror. Her skin crawled as she thought of all of the kisses she had wasted on him. Then she thought about Cara and tears began to slide down her cheeks. Whatever she had experienced with Patrick, Cara had gone through worse. Patrick had hurt her best friend and when Cara tried to warn her about him she had been too stubborn to listen. Instead she had only made her friend's pain worse. Finally she looked over at James, who despite her awful treatment, was walking beside her when she needed someone the most.

She looked at him and felt a sense of warmth flow her body.

"James I need to ask you a question," Lily said quietly.

James looked down at Lily and saw her sparkling green eyes starring back up at him.

"Shoot," James said, inviting Lily to talk.

Lily inhaled a deep breath and tried to formulate her thoughts to the best of her ability.

"Why did you run away?" she asked in a shaky voice.

It was the question that had been plaguing her mind for weeks. She didn't understand how James could hurt her after years of constantly professing his love for her. If she ever wanted to trust him again she needed to know the truth. Lily's question hit James like a ton of bricks. He didn't know if he could articulate his feelings to her, but he decided that if he had any chance with Lily, he had to try.

"The truth is I ran away because I knew I had blown it with you," James said.

Lily gave him a quizzical look and raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Usually when a girl kisses you back it's a sign that you are doing something right," Lily argued back.

"I know that," James said defensively. "It's just that…."

"It's just what?" Lily interrupted, but James stopped her

He pulled her to him and kissed her with every ounce of passion he had. He kissed her to take her pain away and he kissed her to show how sorry he was. He wanted her to know that he would never hurt her. When he pulled away, Lily starred up at him speechless.

"Now that I've gotten your attention, let me explain," James said with a smirk on his lips.

"But," Lily tried, but James stopped her.

"Just let me get this out and then you can rant and rave all you want," James said.

Lily just nodded her head.

"After I kissed you, I knew that I couldn't stand to look at the disappointment in your eyes. I had been trying for weeks to prove to you what a good friend I could be and how responsible I was. I was trying to win you over slowly. And then we kissed and I thought that you would be disappointed and think that I hadn't changed at all. I was angry at myself for letting my feelings take over and I didn't know what else to do," James said.

Lily didn't know what to say. Her head spun in confusion as her emotions swung from anger to elation. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. James looked at her and waited for what seemed like an eternity for a response. The silence suffocated him as he looked at Lily for some indication of what she was feeling.

"I thought you didn't want me anymore," Lily said as tears began to slide down her cheeks.

"It's my fault and I was an idiot," James said as he wrapped his arms around Lily's small frame.

Tears continued to fall down Lily's cheeks, and James dried them with his sleeve. Finally she peaked up at him through her tear stained eyes.

"Can we just start over?" Lily asked as she tried to dry her eyes.

James looked at her and smiled. He nodded his head and Lily grinned. They walked back to the Gryffindor common room together, both wondering where this relationship would go.

Later that night Lily walked into her bedroom and Cara was sitting on her bed with Kelly. Both were deep in conversation about something. Lily looked at them and felt a pang of sadness. She knew she needed to apologize, she just prayed that Cara would accept it. She approached her two friends with a look of determination on her face.

"Guys can we talk?" Lily asked quietly.

Cara hadn't talked to Lily in a week and was surprised by the sound of her voice. She looked at Lily with disappointment in her eyes. She never thought that her best friend would choose a boy over her.

"Depend on what you want to talk about," Cara said coolly.

Lily knew that Cara was stubborn and it would take some coaxing to gain her friendship again. She sat down on Cara's bed and composed herself, but the tears began to flow.

"Patrick attacked me tonight," Lily sobbed.

Cara immediately sprang up and whipped her wand out.

"Where is he, I'll kill that little rat," Cara said as her faced turned a violent shade of red.

"It's alright, luckily James found me before anything terrible could happen," Lily said as she tried to calm her friend.

"I hope he tore that son of a bitch limb to limb," Cara spat.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that the whole time Patrick was trying to intimidate me, I just kept thinking about how awful it must have been for you. Whatever I went through, you experienced twice as much pain, and I was so blind that I couldn't even listen to my best friend's warnings," Lily said as she chocked back more tears.

Cara looked at Lily with empathy. She wanted to pull her best friend into her arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, but part of her needed to hear Lily finish her apology.

"It was my fault you were attacked. If I hadn't started dating him to get back at James then none of this would have ever happened," Lily continued.

By this time, Kelly's arms were around Lily's shoulders as she lent her friend support. Cara closed the distance between herself and Lily and pulled her into a hug as well.

"I missed you Lils," Cara said.

Lily and her two friends clung to each other in an effort to renew the bonds of their friendship. After they separated, Cara did a particularly funny impression of Patrick and all three of the girls began to laugh hysterically. They spent the rest of the night catching up on each others lives. They talked about the marauders and Lily finally admitted she liked James, but was still having reservations about dating him.

"We are going to take it slow; starting over," Lily said with a grin.

Cara confessed that she and Sirius had snogged a few times, but she was unsure of where things were going, given Sirius's reputation for his inability to commit. However, both Lily and Kelly could tell that Cara might be harboring more feelings then she was admitting for the dark eyed marauder.

Kelly finally gave in and told her friends about Remus. To her lament, neither girls were surprised.

"It's about time," Cara whooped as she congratulated her friend.

"Really, I'm glad you guys finally got together or we were going to have to lock you in a closet until you figured things out," Lily teased.

"Funny we had the same idea about you and James," Kelly retorted, and Lily began to blush deeply.


	10. Checkmate

Lily stared moodily out of the window in the Gryffindor common room. It had been nearly two weeks since she and James had made up and while that was grand, she couldn't help, but feel disappointed. James had been nothing but friendly since their reconciliation, and that was what frustrated her the most. She was finding that it was becoming increasingly difficult to just be friends with James Potter. For instance, they were walking down a deserted corridor the other night and Lily suddenly felt the urge to kiss James senseless. She hadn't of course, not wanting to seem forward. Instead they just continued to talk as friends.

"You don't want anything more than friendship," Lily whispered to herself, but she didn't really believe it.

She never thought it was possible, but she wanted James Potter. She looked over at him as he was helping a sixth year named Colleen Fairbanks with her Transfiguration homework. He brushed his unruly hair out of his eyes and Lily actually found that adorable.

"Stop thinking about James, he is just your friend and he isn't that cute," Lily thought to herself, but then she saw him laugh and realized she really needed to stop lying to herself.

James looked up from the work he was concentrating on and caught Lily looking at him. It was taking all of his self control to not go over there and kiss her. He knew he couldn't do that. He'd promised her he would take it slow, and that didn't include snogging her in the Gryffindor common room. His only option was to wait for her and give her time, even if it killed him.

At midnight the common room had emptied out and James and Lily were left alone. Lily was too distracted to get any real work done and decided to call it a night. She packed up her books and put her wand in the back pocket of her jeans. She looked over at James who was scribbling something on a piece of parchment.

"Good night James," Lily offered.

James looked up at her and smiled. Suddenly before he could stop himself he started talking.

"Do you want to go to Hogsmede this weekend?" James asked quickly.

Lily's eyes lit up and she began to blush. She had hoped he would ask her, but she had about given up after a week of hinting and making herself available for him to suggest the idea.

"Yeah I'd love to go," Lily replied.

"Great, I'll tell the guys and you bring Cara and Kelly. It's been a while since we've all done something together," James replied.

He had to congratulate himself on his quick thinking. With everyone else along, Lily wouldn't feel like they were on a date. James didn't want to pressure her. Lily on the other hand felt her stomach drop. He was just making another friendly gesture. She hoped her face didn't betray her disappointment.

"Sounds like a plan," Lily said and then quickly withdrew to her bedroom.

It hadn't been hard to convince Kelly to go with the Marauders to Hogsmede. She was after all dating Remus and they had decided it was silly to hide their relationship anymore. Cara on the other hand was a little less enthusiastic. Being around Sirius Black made her feel uncertain, and she hated feeling confused. One moment he seemed to be like the perfect guy and the next he would muck everything up. However, she gave in after Lily promised to buy her some chocolate frogs at the sweet shop.

Saturday came around and Lily woke up early and immediately decided to get her friends to do the same. When Cara and Kelly managed to open their eyes they complained vigorously about the early hour.

"Get up, it's a beautiful day outside," Lily said joyfully.

"I liked it better when she wasn't talking to us," Cara complained as she dragged herself out of bed.

Lily was already up and stressing over what to wear when her friends finally decided to remove themselves from the comfort of their beds.

Downstairs, the Marauders had been waiting for twenty minutes for the girls to get ready and they were starting to get impatient.

"Oi, hurry up ladies or I'll come up there and dress you myself," Sirius shouted as he paced back and forth.

"You are just looking for an excuse to see us in our knickers," Cara yelled back.

Sirius shrugged his shoulders and resigned himself to waiting.

"She's got me there," Sirius replied.

Finally, Lily, Cara, and Kelly descended the stairs and were ready to leave. Lily was wearing her favorite jeans with a black cashmere sweater and her favorite coat. Her hair was piled up on her head and James couldn't stop staring at her.

"Alright well let's get a move on you lot, we haven't go all day," Cara chided.

Sirius threw her a look that suggested he wasn't amused and immediately started chasing after her.

Everyone laughed as Sirius caught up to her and then effortlessly picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

"You let me down this instant," Cara bellowed, but he wasn't listening.

"Surprised it took them this long to start arguing," James said as he and Lily followed their friends out of the portrait hole.

"Hey you can't blame Cara, it isn't exactly comfortable being carried like a sack of potatoes," Lily countered. "Especially with your boney shoulders."

James laughed as he remembered when he had done the same thing to her before he had thrown her into the lake.

"I happen to have very comfortable shoulders, and you know you liked it so don't complain," James said playfully.

"I may have liked it just a little," Lily said coyly and then ran ahead to join the rest of her friends.

James stood their slightly confused. Had Lily Evans just flirted with him? Whatever her meaning, he wasn't going to figure it out alone, so he decided to catch up. Sirius carried Cara all the way down the hill, complaining the entire way about how heavy she was.

"Lay off those biscuits Stinson, you weigh as much as a hippogriff," he teased.

"At least I don't look like one," Cara retaliated back.

When they reached Hogsmede they headed straight for The Three Broomsticks. They walked in and Madam Rosmerta had seven warm butterbeers waiting for them.

"Thought you lot might need something to warm you up," Rosmerta said as she distributed the round of drinks.

"Rosmerta, love of my life, you have outdone yourself again. When are you going to take off the apron and let me take you out?" Sirius asked flirtatiously.

Rosmerta slapped Sirius playfully on the back of the head and told him to torture someone his own age. Everyone laughed as Sirius was so brutally rejected; Cara almost spit up her butterbeer.

The seven Gryffindors sipped their drinks and chatted amiably. Lily couldn't help, but notice how well everyone was getting on considering just a few months ago the Marauders were sworn enemies of herself and her friends. Remus and Kelly were engrossed in a private conversation and Sirius, Cara, James, Peter and she were bantering back and forth about one of the latest pranks the Marauders had pulled.

"Brilliant, incredibly horrible, but I'm willing to give credit where credit is due and that was a stroke of genius," Lily said after James told her about charming Malfoy's wand to spit insults at him every time he used it.

James laughed at his own brilliance.

"I can't take all credit, Remus did find the particular charm that we could use," James said.

"If it weren't for me, half of your hair-brained schemes would never work," Remus replied after hearing his name in reference to a prank.

They continued talking, and then suddenly Lily had an idea.

"Hey James, do you want to play a game of pool?" Lily asked as she saw a table open up.

James nodded eagerly at the idea of getting Lily all to himself. They walked over to the table and Lily picked up a pool stick.

"Do you want me to show you how to hold the stick?" James asked.

Lily let out a little laugh.

"I think I can figure it out. What do you say we make this game a little more interesting and raise the stakes," Lily suggested.

James immediately liked the idea.

"Excellent," James replied.

"If I win, you have to pay me a compliment," Lily said boldly.

"And if I win?" James asked, excited to see what he would be winning.

"I'll go out on a date with you." Lily said as she wracked the balls.

James had a large smile on his face as he pulled a coin out of his pocket and flipped it to see who would get to break. Lily called heads as the coin flipped in the air and sadly lost. James chalked his stick and lined up his first shot. The balls flew across the table and he landed two solids in the left corner pocket.

"Nice shot," Lily commented.

"Yeah I've been playing pool for ages," James said coolly as he watched Lily line up a shot of her own.

He let out a small laugh as he watched Lily scrunch her face in concentration.

"Now the key is to look at all the angles," James suggested, but he soon realized he didn't need to give Lily any help.

With one stroke, she had sunk four striped balls. She looked at him with an expression that feigned innocence.

"Beginners luck?" Lily replied.

Somehow James didn't think so. He watched in awe as Lily continued to make shot after shot until all she had to do was sink the eight ball, which she did with ease. She smiled at him as she put her stick down.

"I think that's the game," Lily said coolly as she watched James stare at her with an expression of confusion and admiration.

"Too bad, I would have taken you on one hell of a date," James said casually.

Lily began to blush at James' forwardness, but couldn't help, but think about what a date with James would be like. It certainly wouldn't be boring. There wouldn't be any drippy trips to Madame Pudifoots and he wouldn't try and control her. Suddenly she was a little sad that she hadn't let him win.

"I guess we'll never know," Lily said as she put her stick back on the wrack.

"So I owe you a compliment," James said, curious about what Lily's intentions were with this request.

"Yes you do," Lily replied nervously.

She couldn't fathom what had prompted her to make such a ridiculous bet. She didn't know what kind of response she was hoping to get out of James. She looked up at him with her sparkling green eyes and realized just how close she was standing to him. Taking advantage of their closeness, James leaned in until his lips were almost touching her ear. Lily felt herself holding her breath.

"You are," James started to say as he enjoyed watching the blush rise in Lily's cheeks, "an amazing pool player."

With that he pulled away, but Lily was still speechless. She didn't know whether to laugh or faint from embarrassment.

"That was a terrible compliment, you'll have to try harder than that next time," Lily said trying to regain her composure.

James just laughed and put his arm around Lily's shoulders.

"Complimenting you is never hard Evans," James replied.

They walked back over to their friends and found Cara and Sirius in the middle of a game of exploding snap.

"Too bad I missed singing your eyebrows off, they could use a good trim," Cara said as sparks flew at Sirius.

That night everyone sat in the common room gorging on the sweets they had purchased at Honeydukes. Sirius had eaten himself into a sugar induced comma and Cara was busy charming his forehead to say inappropriate things. Remus and Kelly had decided to go off and spend some time by themselves, and Peter was asleep by the fire. That left Lily and James who were busy playing a game of chess.

"So how'd you learn how to play pool?" James asked curiously as he moved his knight to capture Lily's bishop.

"My dad taught me. It was sort of a thing we did together," Lily said as she pondered her next move. "How about you?"

"I got a pool table for my birthday one year and I just sort of started messing around," James said.

"Well I'll give you a lesson sometime if you'd like," Lily said with a smirk.

James looked up from the chess board and gave Lily a sardonic look.

"Oh how kind of you," James said sarcastically.

"I think I can show you a few moves that will help your game," Lily replied playfully.

James just nodded his head and smiled.

"Checkmate," he replied as he moved his chess piece into position.

Lily looked down at the board in disbelief. She hadn't seen his move coming.


	11. Finally

Lily lay in her bed, unable to fall asleep

Lily lay in her bed, unable to fall asleep. Her mind was racing with thoughts, about James Potter in particular. She was feeling very frustrated about him. Everything was great between them and he was such a good friend to her, and that was the problem. She did not want to be friends anymore. She wanted to do things to him that made her blush and it was starting to affect her ability to think. She hated that he had such an affect on her, but she could not help but smile when she though about him. Something was going to need to give in their relationship, and she had a feeling he was waiting for her to make the first move.

Suddenly a rush of impulsiveness came over her. She threw off her covers and got out of bed. She checked herself in the mirror to make sure she did not look too haggard. Her read hair was piled on top of her head, and her black tank top showed off the freckles on her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of red butt shorts and as she looked herself over, she was satisfied with her appearance.

She walked downstairs like a woman on a mission. She knew that if she started to think about what she was going to do, she would not go through with it. Luckily, the common room was empty, so no one saw her climb up the stairs to the boys dormitory. When she reached the 7th year boys dormitory, she sucked in her breath and then opened the door. It was dark in the room except for a wand that was lit at the far end of the room. She looked towards it and James was sitting on his bed holding a piece of parchment in his hand that he had been writing, but now he was looking at her. Lily smiled and walked over toward his bed.

"Lily?" he whispered questioningly, unable to believe she would be in his room, at night, half dressed.

He opened and closed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Lily came to him without a word. She simply crawled on top of him and kissed him brazenly. James was not sure how to respond. At first he thought Lily might be possessed, but she looked at him earnestly for confirmation that was she was doing was okay, and he knew she was aware of what was going on. He kissed her back and she put his arms around her to get closer to him. She put her hands on his bare chest to steady herself and then wrapped her arms around his neck. He took in the taste of her as they exchanged salty sweet kisses. He did not want to stop, but he knew he should, for both their sakes. He cupped her face in his hands and placed a sweet kiss on her forehead. Lily looked at him and smiled.

"James," she whispered as she rested her head on his shoulder, "can I be your girlfriend?"

James kissed the top of her head and nodded in confirmation.

"Well that depends," he whispered back, "only if you promise that more midnight visits to my room to ravish me are part of the package."

Lily thumped him on the chest for being cheeky, and let out a yawn as she stretched her satiated body like a cat and curled up next to him.

"Only when you really deserve it," she said back.

He held her tightly not wanting her to leave and her eyes closed with exhaustion and relief from the tension she had been feeling.

"Are you planning on spending the night here Miss Evans?" James asked.

Lily just nodded her head in confirmation.

Lily woke in the morning to find James sleeping soundly next to her. She smiled to herself and moved closer to him. She put his arms around her and lay their in contentment.

"Can't get enough of me can you Evans," James said sleepily.

Slightly embarrassed that she had been caught, Lily did not say anything just feigned sleep. James, however was not fooled.

"Its alright love, all you have to do is ask," James said as he rolled over and kissed her.

Lily giggled.

However, their brief interlude was broken up.

"Sirius get the girl out of here," Remus said gruffly.

Lily and James laughed together. Clearly, Remus though the noise was coming from Sirius' bed.

"Oye mate, don't blame me, theirs not chit here," Sirius responded.

Hearing this Remus sat up. This only left one other possibility for the source of the female voice he had heard.

"Prongs, if Lily catches you with some other bird I swear you're a dead man and I'll help her," Remus said furiously.

Lily looked at James and hit him. "Are they used to you bringing many girls to your room," Lily whispered playfully.

James held her tightly. "No you're the only one for me," he said.

She kissed him, but they pulled apart when they heard Remus' foot steps coming toward the bed.

"I guess we'll have to let them know you're here," James resigned.

Lily just nodded. James sat up, in time to block a curse Remus sent in his direction.

"Relax Mooney," he said. "Its Lily, she had a bad dream and decided to come see me."

Lily sat up to verify her presence, and Remus took a step back. At this Sirius let out a loud laugh.

"Shut up Sirius or I'll hex you," Lily said.

Then she turned to Remus, who was still shocked to see her in James' bed. She smiled at him.

"Thanks for the back-up Remus, and if there is ever another girl in James bed, you have my permission to murder him," she said.

Then she got up and blushed slightly, realizing she was only wearing a skimpy tank top and a pair of butt shorts.

"Take that look off your face Padfoot or I'll hex it off," James warned as he threw Lily a sweatshirt to put on.

"Sorry to wake you guys and I'll see you at breakfast," Lily said and with that, she walked out of their room. As soon as she did, she realized everyone in the common room was staring at her. She realized she had to act fast to stop gossip from spreading. So she did what she did best, she yelled.

"Sirius Black if I ever catch you wearing my make up again I'll make sure it stays on your face again permanently," Lily said.

Everyone started to laugh, except for Sirius, who had managed to hear the tirade and promised he would wring her neck.

"Cheeky little minx," Sirius said sourly, yet he was secretly impressed.

James just lay in bed and smiled. That was, until his friends pounced on him.

"You had Lily Evans in your bed and you are not going to tell us how that happened?" Sirius implored.

"Its none of your business Padfoot," James said as he attempted to stand up.

His friends knocked him back down.

"You've been in love with this girl for seven years and nothing happened and yet we still had to hear about it," Sirius continued. "Now something has so we've earned the right."

Remus and Peter nodded their heads in agreement.

Realizing he wasn't going to get out of this one, James decided to give them the bare bones version.

"She came in here and asked to be my girlfriend and naturally I obliged her. She fell asleep and that's pretty much all that happened," James said. "Now if you don't let me up and get off my bed I'll be forced to curse you."

Sirius, Remus, and Peter relented, deciding James was not going to give them a full account of last nights events.

Meanwhile, Lily entered her own dorm and to her great misfortune, her friends were no asleep.

"Coming out of the Marauders room wearing James Potter's sweatshirt with messy hair and certain glow in the cheeks. Someone has been doing something naughty," Cara accounted.

"Could it be that the mighty Lily Evans has succumbed to the charms of Mister James Potter?" Kelly said playfully.

Lily threw a glare at both of them.

"Like either of you has not been in the marauder's dorm," Lily tried to argue.

"So you admit that you spent the night there," Cara pressed.

"I have nothing to hide, I'm a big girl and I can sleep where I want," Lily said non-chalantly.

Both girls squealed.

"Lily Evans you are such a hussy," Cara said playfully.

Lily blushed deeply, but the smile stayed on her face. She threw her hands up in the air.

"Well something had to be done. I was starting to go a little crazy," Lily said and neither of her friends argued the point. "Now drop it and lets get ready for breakfast."

Half an hour later the girls entered the great hall and took a seat next to the marauders. Lily took one next to James and he turned and whispered something in her ear and she laughed.

"I think I might throw up," Cara commented.

"I'm with you, it seems like I've lost another good soldier to wiles of a female," Sirius lamented as he stuffed his face full of breakfast.

"Oh Sirius don't pretend that feminine wiles do not work on you," Cara chastised.

"Only yours love," he replied.

"Maybe you could say that again when your mouth isn't full of food," Cara said, trying not to feel flattered.

Sirius grinned widely, showing her the full contents of his breakfast.

"You really are disgusting," she replied.


End file.
